A Summer With Loki
by xRDJ603
Summary: The God of Mischief himself is sentenced to spend a few months with the avengers crew on Earth. Teasing, budding friendships, and maybe a little more is all sure to ensue. Will Loki be able to keep up with their playful antics? Or is he incapable of having fun in the sun.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1, Lockdown**

When Nick Fury gave the news that Thor would be returning with his pesky little brother, the avengers let out a collective groan. Apparently Odin had wanted nothing to do with his adopted son and sentenced him to Midgard. That was at least before he could come up with a more permanent plan.

For now, Loki had to stay in a "cell" of sorts at Stark Tower. This way the team could keep an eye on him, and still stay comfortable. Even though they only had to check on him occasionally, it was still a burden none of them wanted to bare. His makeshift prison was nearly the same as his earlier one. It was still translucent glass in the middle of the room, except only now he had a bed and a concealed door for the washroom.

Surprisingly Thor walked Loki into his cell this time, not an array of guards. The elder brother had a firm grip on the younger but he was not putting up a fight. When Loki was put inside, he immediately sat down on his bed. A blank stare settled on his face.

Tony Stark was the first of the crew to inspect the god. He strode over to the protective glass beside Thor and peered in at Loki.

"Oh look, they let him keep the antlers." Tony laughed, gesturing to the horned helmet that was still atop his head.

Loki glanced to Tony after his comment but said nothing. Noticing the rest of the avengers assembling behind Thor and him.

Clint's fists balled up at the sight before him and Bruce had to use his deep breathing techniques to stay calm. "Why's he even here?" Clint asked, cracking his neck.

"Something with his dad not wanting him." Tony said insensitively. He knew it hurt having 'daddy issues'. But hey, being thrown out of a window hurt too.

"The All Father has decided that Loki will stay a few Earth months with us, until he decides on another punishment." Thor shrugged.

"What?" Clint nearly yelled. "We have to waste our whole summer babysitting this joke!"

Loki sneered at Barton. The man named after a _bird_ was calling the God a joke? He sighed inwardly, mortals were so naive. He decided to walk over to the mob of idiots before him, clasping his hands behind his back.

"I am in your presence.." Loki drawled, raising his eyebrows. Tired of being spoken to in the third person.

Tony rolled his eyes. "Yes, but we'd like to pretend you're not. The summer is the only time we get some sort of 'break'."

Loki felt some sort of gratitude by still foiling The Avengers plans some how, even it was as petty as being in the way of their vacation.

"I do not see how I am much of a bother," he lied. "You all seem to spend most of your time here, do you not?"

"Well, we actually had plans tomorrow." Steve spoke up, sounding a tad disappointed.

Loki just inclined his head, wanting an elaboration.

"We were planning on going to the beach." Tony said crossing his arms.

Loki laughed. "You are all pouting because you cannot go to a beach?" "How is that even possibly fun?" he scoffed.

Tony furrowed his eyes at the God in front of him, going completely serious. "Obviously you have never been on a jet ski."

Loki gave him a puzzled look, as the superheroes behind Tony all snickered. "What is this you speak of?"

Tony turned around at the group, eyes wild with excitement.  
"Guys, I have a plan."

Loki gulped.

**—**

**Alrighty, well I had the idea of Loki clinging onto a jet ski yesterday while.. on a jet ski.. and I thought it would be funny to turn into a story full of summer 'fun' for Loki. So, tell me if you think I should go ahead and post some new chapters! Also ideas and comments are always appreciated. Thanks! :)**


	2. Chapter 2, Breakout

**Chapter 2, Breakout**

The next day Tony's plan had taken action. They were going to the beach.. with Loki. SHIELD had set up security cameras around his cell, but Tony had no problem hacking into them. It was still his tower after all. It would give them enough time to sneak Loki out before the guards would notice the footage was just looped from yesterdays. Also, Tony thought he could just ease Nick Fury over the situation tomorrow.

Thor walked over to Loki's quarters in a pair of red swim shorts, pressing a button after he got the 'okay' from Tony. As the cell door started to slide open, Thor stood in front of it blocking the entrance.

"Brother, before we can go, I have been advised to tell you to.. put these on." Thor said pulling a pair of bright green shorts out from behind his back.

Loki looked disgusted at the piece of clothing, "I know of your plan and I shall not let such clothes grace my skin." He spat. "I am horrified that even you are doing so."

Thor threw the shorts at him. "I'm afraid there is no option, this is an order from Stark."

Loki let the shorts fall to the ground. "Since when did _you_ take orders from anyone, Thor_._" he shook his head. "I am _not_ putting these disgraceful things on."

Just then none other than Bruce Banner walked in. "Why?" He laughed. "Do you not like the colour green anymore?" he asked with a smile. He could tell Loki was still shaken up from their last encounter together, and enjoyed being in the power position.

Loki looked at the man with distaste, knowing he was stuck here. "No, I am still rather.. fond of the colour green." he chocked out, picking up the shorts off the ground and holding them up. "But, are you not ashamed, showing this much skin.. in public?" he asked with a grimace.

Before anyone could answer him, Natasha came into the room, wearing nothing but a bikini and her towel.

"Whats all the commotion guys?" She asked, giving Loki a questioning look through the glass.

"Loki is being self conscious and won't put on his bathing suit." Bruce said with a snicker.

Loki turned to him, "I tell you I have the body of a god!"

At that Thor chucked quietly, getting an offended look back from Loki. He stopped abruptly and hid his laugher with a cough.

"Would you rather stay locked in your cell for three months? Put the damn things on so we can go." Natasha sighed, placing her hands on her hips.

Loki glanced at the shorts in his hand, then back to the few in front of him. Huffing dramatically he walked over to his washroom and proceeded to change.

Outside waiting, the three of them shared smirks trying not to laugh, knowing that it would only put them backwards in the situation. The sound of ruffling clothes and clanking metal soon came to an end, and the remaining team members awaited his entrance. After a few tense moments Loki's hand finally turned the door knob. He was stalling.

"...May I keep my helmet on?" he asked hesitantly, before opening the door.

Bruce brought a hand to his face, and Natasha sighed. "Really?" she said looking to Thor who only shrugged, "..Sure, now get out here!"

Loki stepped out, placing his armour on the bed. He wasn't nearly as muscular as Thor, but he wasn't exactly skinny either.

"Not bad." Natasha said jokingly, tilting her head. "Could use a tan."

Bruce laughed to himself, "Okay let's go quickly, the guards may be onto us already."

Thor motioned for Loki to walk with them and closed the door back to the cell. They quickly moved to the roof using Tony's private elevator.

As they got the the landing pad, Clint passed out towels for them to keep warm during the trip. Loki kept his gaze downcast and didn't catch the look that passed Barton's face, "Really?" he mouthed to Natasha.

"I know." she mumbled, shaking her head walking into the helicopter.

Loki looked to the seats in the copter and grimaced when he saw the only unoccupied one was beside Stark. Unhappily he sat down beside him.

Tony glanced over to the god as he put on his seatbelt. "Jeez you're pale!" he exclaimed. "Do you even go outside?" he said laughing, to which Loki looked down.

Tony looked to Steve who gave him a disproving shake of his head. "What? The guy could be a ginge-" he was cut off by a smack from Natasha. She said nothing as she walked over to the cockpit with Clint. Leaving Loki smiling in his seat and Tony holding his arm.

This would be a long ride.

**I just want to thank you guys so much for reviewing and putting alerts on this story! I promise we will get to the jet skiing next chapter, I just felt the self conscious Loki thing needed to happen. I mean who isn't a little skeptical at first when trying on a bathing suit?**

**Also, comments and ideas for upcoming chapters are always welcome! **

**Thanks again! :)**


	3. The Jet Ski

**Chapter 3, The Jet Ski**

Clint flew the group to a secluded lake up north. The ride went by pretty smoothy, a few exceptions being snide remarks from Tony telling him to 'fly faster' and that 'Iron Man could have gotten here hours ago'. Other than that, it was rather peaceful.

Loki stayed quiet with his towel wrapped tightly around him. Ignoring the occasional rude comment from Stark, and keeping his gaze glued to the window. Bruce, Thor, and Steve chatted quietly about the different activities they could do on a modern beach, while Natasha and Clint blocked everyone out in their own personal bubbles up front.

They landed not too far from what seemed to be a long rocky coast. The lake was surrounded by larger mountains keeping it private. They were informed that the other side of the lake was a more populated area, but they shouldn't have anyone bothering them on this side.

They all jumped out and helped unpack the various items from underneath the copter. Loki was rather stunned at all the things they had packed, but was blown away at one mechanism that Steve helped move to the beach. It was shaped like a small 'boat' if he remembered correctly, but had seats and a handle bar. Loki squinted at the machine, wondering how this could be of use, when Tony walked over and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"This, my friend is the jet ski." he said dramatically, pointing with his free hand.

Loki quickly pushed Tony off of him mumbling something along the lines of 'do not touch me'.

Tony payed no attention to him and just continued explaining. "It's impossible to be upset on one of these."

Loki raised an eyebrow, how could a small boat change someones mood? "I do not see how this could be fun, Stark." he said crossing his arms rather childishly.

"Oh I'll show you." he said turning to face the rest of his friends up the beach. "Hey, are you guys done unpacking? I want to take Loki out on the jet ski!" he yelled to them.

"Wait, I want to see this!" Clint shouted back, jogging down to where they were.

The others all nodded and ran over to where Tony and Loki stood.

Loki was increasingly feeling more and more nervous as they crowded him. He wasn't sure what the huge commotion was, and started to step away.

Tony pulled off the t-shirt he wearing, and noticed the shocked looks from the team. He frowned before he saw Bruce subtly tap his heart. Quickly realizing what he was imitating, Tony placed his hand over his reactor and pretending to scratch at his chest. It was probably a good idea to not let Loki know about his RT just yet. He turned towards the jet ski before Loki could see, and hoped on. Sighing in relief.

"Come on Rudolph you're first." he said over his shoulder.

Loki didn't catch the reference but understood it was directed towards him. "No." was all he said. He was not getting on such a device, especially with Tony Stark.

"Come now brother it's fun. Even I have been on one!" Thor said, walking towards him.

Loki turned and gave him a strange look, why did everyone want him on this so bad?

"Go on," Thor said giving him a push towards it.

Loki closed his eyes, well aware at the fact he was being pressured into things lately. He decided that if Thor could ride one, he could as well, and slowly climbed on behind Tony.

"See that wasn't so bad." Tony snickered.

Loki just growled, refusing to look at him.

"Alright now I'm afraid you're going to have to hold on to my waist. " Tony said taking a glance behind him.

"I refuse to touch you."

"Suit yourself!" Tony laughed, turning the jet ski on and revving the engine in one swift motion.

Loki jumped at the unexpected sound and glanced back to the beach where the avengers were all laughing at him. He felt his cheeks start to heat up, but told himself it was just from his anger.

"Okay, are you ready _now_?" Tony asked him between laughs, but Loki stayed silent.

"Alright.. here we go!" he said squeezing the gas, making them jerk forward.

At being propelled so suddenly Loki nearly fell off, his hands shot out to grab onto the closest thing to him. That being Tony's waist. He reluctantly clung onto him for dear life as the shoreline disappeared before them.

The grin on Tony's face was priceless, he had singlehandedly made the God of Mischief cower behind him. He drove straight ahead until the heroes on the beach were tiny specks. Feeling mischievous himself, he pulled some sharp turns creating an army of waves crashing into one another. He did a tight circle and went through the mess of water, nearly knocking Loki off from the bumps.

"Turn it off!" Loki hollered from behind him.

"What?" Tony yelled back, hearing him perfectly. He rode over another mean looking wave.

"OFF!" said Loki, as they crashed back down to the water.

Tony ignored him, and continued to do some more zig zags.

"PLEASE!" Loki shouted as another wave shook his body. He berated himself for letting a note of fear enter his voice.

Tony heard the change in Loki's tone and felt a little bad. That was rather ruff for someones first time out on the water. He slowed to a stop, and turned behind him.

"..Hey, um you alright?" he asked awkwardly.

Loki brought his head up and gave him a dirty look, breathing heavily.

"Okay so maybe slower this time." Tony said, getting his point. He turned back and started the engine smoother. As they started to move forward, the death grip Loki had on Tony returned, even though they were going half the speed.

Tony changed the speed as they went, feeling Loki finally loosen up as he adjusted to it. He decided to check out the other side of the lake, the water was smoother over there right now anyways. Loki would thank him, or not.

As they came closer to the other side, they could hear the faint sound of blasting music. Tony, being curious wanted to check it out, while Loki was too occupied getting used to this new experience.

The water _was_ smoother on this side of the lake, and Loki (although he would never admit it) was actually starting to enjoy himself. He only started getting a little worried as Tony was bringing them closer and closer to the opposite shore. He didn't realize at first how fast they were going, and they could soon make out people who were scattered along the beach. As they neared them even more Tony started to laugh. "No way." he said shaking his head.

"What is it?" Loki asked confused, but soon saw for himself.

All along the beach were hundreds of bikini clad girls. Tony slowed down as it appeared they were waving at them.

"Wave to the girls Loki," Tony said with a smirk, giving them a salut. Loki could have sworn he saw one of the girls faint.

Loki turned away, this was ridiculous. All of these girls flailing and falling over Mr. Tony Stark here. But what he didn't know was that when he turned, the sun caught his helmet making it have a glare to the beach, catching all the girls attention. They all stopped waving for a moment before letting out a collective scream. Tony and Loki both had puzzled looks on their faces. All of a sudden the girls started chanting something, Tony turned off the engine so they could hear better. The girls were going crazy now all screaming "LOKI, LOKI, LOKI." over and over.

"What the heck.." Tony said glancing back to Loki who had an equally strange look on his face.

Loki wasn't quite sure what to do. "I think it would be a good idea to go back now." he said as some of the girls started swimming out towards them.

"Yeah, me too." Tony muttered giving his head a shake. Not believing that of all people, Loki had just stole his thunder.

**Oh my, I hope I didn't disappoint? I'd love to thank each and everyone one of you who have reviewed, I love hearing what you think! I hope this went okay. Also, I think we all know that Tom Hiddleston has stolen everyones thunder now. xD**

**Thanks again! :)**


	4. Extensions

**Chapter 4, Extensions**

Tony had sped off as fast as he could from the insane girls. He steered the jet ski far to the right until they couldn't be seen any longer, and shut it off for a moment. Tony sat there in silence, thinking to himself while Loki looked around awkwardly in the back, taking his hands off Stark.

Loki was about to ask what they were doing before Tony turned around.

"Why." Tony said rather bluntly.

"Hm?" Loki asked, confused.

"Why would all those girls go completely berserk over_ you_!"

Loki just furrowed his eyebrows, not quite sure himself.

"I mean, I'm Iron man, I'm freaking Tony Stark here.."

Loki let him ramble on before an idea struck him.

"Stark." he said smoothly, but Tony continued talking.

"I'm a hero! I've got the looks the money the brains, I've.."

"_Stark._."

"I mean you're the bad guy! How does that even..."

"TONY!" he shouted, finally getting a response.

"What?" he spat, looking even more pissed off.

Loki gave him a smug smile before simply answering. "I have an army."

Tony's face dropped, he rolled his eyes looking disgusted. "Oh screw off!" he said annoyed, turning the jet ski on.

Loki sat laughing to himself in the back.

As they started to turn towards their beach, Tony started talking again.

"You know, I _was_ going to let you drive, but now I'm not." he said rather childlike.

Loki just sighed, and stayed quiet the rest of the ride. But not without a small smile gracing his lips.

Soon enough they came to shore. Loki immediately jumped off the mechanism and Tony soon followed, tying it up to a post.

Loki saw that the avengers had set up some sort of camp, with folding chairs and coolers full of food around them. Happily he saw they were occupied up beach huddling around Natasha with something, and decided to stretch out on one of the chairs alone.

Tony ran up the beach before Clint motioned to him.

"Dude, get over here! Fury's on the phone!" Clint whisper-yelled at him.

Tony's stomach sank, he wasn't supposed to notice Loki was gone for at least a couple more hours.

Natasha handed Tony the phone and breathed a sigh of relief. Tony tentatively brought it up to his ear.

"Uh, hello?"

"STARK, What the hell do you think you're doing?" Fury screamed to him on the other line.

"Well, we kinda.. took Loki to the beach with us.." he said looking around.

"You thought it would be okay to take a evil villain, to the beach! Tony you son of a-"

Tony jerked the phone away from his ear as Fury's screaming got louder.

"Hey, listen we got it under control. He can't even use his magic properly anymore right? He's got that thing blocking it. He's fine."

Fury eased up a little after remembering Odin put the binds on his magic.

"Well, as long as you guys keep an eye on him."

"Yeah, yeah we got it." Tony said looking at the sky exasperated.

"..You know Tony, are you guys alone out there?"

Tony thought it was best to not tell him about the 'fangirl' incident.

"Uh, yup."

"Why don't you guys just stay out there for a little while, have you vacation. The further away from SHIELD he is the better."

Tony smiled, "Yeah, sounds good."

"Text Coulson later, I'll get him to send out some more supplies to you guys."

"Yes, sir." Tony replied mock seriously.

"And Tony?"

"Hm?"

"Don't do anything stupid." and with that Nick Fury hung up.

Tony looked at the phone, for a second and then also hung up, handing it back to Natasha.

"So.. How much trouble are we in?" Clint asked.

"None at all actually," Tony said with a laugh, "He wants us to stay out here."

All the avengers shared confused smiles, while a forgotten Loki yelled "What!" from down the beach.

"Fury said he's going to send out more supplies, someone just needs to text Coulson."

"Well, that went better than expected." Bruce said, walking back over to the circle of chairs.

"Quite right." Thor agreed walking down to his brother, who had his head in his hands.

"Oh Loki, do cheer up! We get to spend more time out here!"

Loki got up groaning, and walked over to a log to which he sat on. Away from his brother and the other mortals.

Thor just shrugged and sat down beside Bruce.

Clint, Tony, and Natasha were talking about what new supplies they would be needing, before Captain Rogers came up to them.

"Guys, he looks.. sad." Steve said pointing to Loki who was bent over poking a rock with a stick.

Tony laughed, "Oh come on! This is straight out of a movie, look at him!"

Clint cracked a smile agreeing but Steve stopped him.

"Someone go talk to him."

Natasha butted in, "Oh come on, you're having sympathy for a guy that was just trying to kill us a month ago!"

Steve shrugged, "Yeah well, people change right?"

Natasha went quiet at that one.

Tony put his hands up, "Alright, alright I'll go talk to him. Enough with the guilt trip."

Steve smiled, "Be nice." but he brushed it off.

Tony walked over to where Loki was sitting on the log and stood beside him.

"Hey." he said, getting no reply, Loki kept his gaze down.

"So.." Tony said scratching the back of his head.

"I would like to be alone." Loki said quietly.

Tony thought for a moment, before replying. "Does anyone truly ever want to be alone?"

Loki bit his lip and brought his gaze up to him, but his eyes quickly locked to Tony's chest instead.

Tony followed his gaze before realizing he was still shirtless. "Oh crap."

**Ahh! Well we will have more Tony Loki (bonding?) time next chapter xD**

**So with the whole getting supplies thing, Coulson could also send people.. So anyone else you want in this story? Should I bring in Pepper? or do you guys not want her in here xD It's up to you! Please review and tell me what you think! **

**Thanks! :)**


	5. Being Different

**Chapter 5, Being Different**

Loki now had his full attention to the strange piece that was sticking out of Tony's chest. He marvelled at the way it seemed to be glowing, sustaining its own light somehow. A million thoughts zoomed in and out of his head, trying to imagine how this could be of any use. He suddenly understood that this must have been how Tony had restrained from the staff's powers.

Tony Stark admitted defeat. He knew that it would be pointless to try and hide his reactor now. Sighing, he took a seat next to Loki on the log and tried to gather his thoughts. He wasn't quite sure how to start, but Loki soon saved him the trouble.

"What is that thing in your chest?" Loki asked, with a strange expression.

"It's a miniaturized arc reactor." Tony said bluntly, knowing he wouldn't comprehend.

"I'm afraid I'm not familiar with these terms."

Tony sighed, "I know, it's ..basically just a power source."

Loki inclined his head, trying to understand. "But why is it in your chest, mortals have no need for.. power sources."

Tony smiled at that, "Well, most mortals. ..It's basically working as a magnet."

Loki was completely lost now, but he nodded nonetheless.

Tony admired Loki's ability to try and follow the conversation and continued. "I have shrapnel stuck in my chest, and this is keeping it from entering my heart." He winced after saying it, questioning if it was the smartest thing to tell _Loki_ of all people his secret.

"So it is some sort of medical enhancement?" Loki asked without missing a beat, intrigued by the conversation.

Tony was surprised Loki seemed to be.. interested, not plotting. "I wouldn't say enhancement.. but you're on the right track."

Loki peered closer to the device, and how his skin seemed to blend in to the metal in an almost eerie way.

"I would have imagined it was painful inserting such a thing."

"Oh, excruciating." Tony laughed off the darker memory.

Loki let a small smile come across his lips. "Though, it is.. rather stunning in a way."

"Really?" Tony asked, astonished. "Usually people are grossed out by it."

"Well they obviously cannot see the beauty in such a device. How can something that is keeping you alive, be seen as 'gross'."

Tony smiled at him, "I've never really thought about it that way. Thanks, I guess."

Loki smiled slightly before looking back down, changing the subject. "So I assume they sent you over here to talk to me."

"Yeah, Steve said you looked sad. That guy has sympathy for everyone." Tony said with a smirk.

Loki rolled his eyes, "I do not need sympathy from anyone."

Tony looked at him out of the corner oh his eye with a playful smile. "Yeah, okay. Come on, let's go sit with the others."

Sighing, Loki got up and followed Tony to the circle of chairs. As they sat down, Natasha was texting Coulson on what to bring.

"Okay, I've asked for tents, sleeping bags, more food and drinks, anything else?"

The rest of the team shrugged, thinking it was alright but Tony had another idea.

"Do you think they could fly in a boat? I mean if we're going to be here for a while that would be fun."

Natasha thought for a moment, "I don't think it shouldn't be a problem. I'll ask."

"Sweet," Tony replied getting nods from everyone around him.

"Hey it's about to get dark out, do you guys want to start up a fire?" Clint spoke up.

"Yeah, that's a good idea." Tony replied, "Then we can roast marshmallows."

Once again, Loki seemed to be the only person not following along.

"Oh brother, have you not tried these marshedmallows?"

Loki gave Thor a dirty look before answering. "No."

Everyone gasped over dramatically.

"You've never had a marshmallow?" Tony exclaimed.

Loki looked around confused. "Er.. no?" why was everyone getting excited over this silly sounding word.

"What did you even _do_ with your time here?" Clint asked, making Loki sink into his chair.

Steve then spoke up. "Loki, it's basically.. like a fluffy.. thing, and you can heat them up over fires. They taste pretty good."

Loki started to understand, but was still worried about how they got so excited over them.

"Brother they are like a treat from Valhalla! We must get marshedmallows at once!" Thor shouted.

"Okay okay, calm down guys. We have a bag here. Start up the fire and I'll go grab them." Natasha said getting up and walking to their food supply.

Loki brought a hand up to his face as Bruce and Tony kneeled over the pit to start the fire. Why did everything have to be so overwhelming.. even something as petty as a piece of food. He rubbed his forehead slightly trying to not let the thoughts enter his mind. It seemed as though no matter where he was, he didn't fit in. To make matters worse, Thor was still one-upping him with everything.

Tony and Bruce had just almost gotten the fire stared by using Bruce's glasses to magnify the suns rays, when it started to get dark. They then moved to using twigs to get a spark, when a gust of wind came and blew it out. They both sighed, and leaned back, about to give up. Clint then walked over and took a lighter out of his back pocket and started the fire in a matter of seconds.

"You are just no fun." Tony said to Clint, slowly getting up.

"You guys were taking forever."

"We were using.. science." Tony said, glancing to Bruce who snickered.

"Yeah well practicality is better than science sometimes." Clint argued.

"Oh whatever." Tony said looking to Natasha who was eating the marshmallows.

"Hey! Don't eat them before we roast them!" Tony laughed walking over and grabbing the bag from her.

She rolled her eyes, and let him have the bag.

Tony looked around them before finding a twig on the ground, he put the stick in the fire for a second before stabbing a marshmallow on it.

"Watch and Learn Loki." he said before putting his twig back in the fire for a good couple seconds, taking it out as it was a nice golden colour.

"And tada you're done." Tony said, popping his marshmallow in his mouth. "Here, you try." and he gave the stick and a new marshmallow to Loki. Steve and Bruce then got up to find sticks for everyone, while Natasha continued to sneakily eat them out of the bag.

Loki looked at the little white fluff before placing it on the end of the stick, he put his in the fire and pulled it back out after a while just as Tony had done.

Except.. his came out completely black. He gave it a quizzical look before everyone else saw, and started laughing.

He stayed silent, and promptly threw his stick into the fire.

**Ah, I hope you guys are still liking this! If you guys want to review and give me some ideas for new chapters, or what you thought of it so far that would be great! I'm glad you guys are enjoying it, I was nervous at first to post it but you are all very nice!**

**Thanks again! :)**


	6. Shortages

**Chapter 6, Shortages**

Loki refused to try and roast another marshmallow after his failed attempt, and decided to mope in his chair instead. They all seemed to forget about him as they continued to laugh and make their own. That was until one faithful soldier walked up to the dejected god.

"Here, you can have one of mine." Steve said holding out his stick with a perfectly toasted marshmallow on the end.

"I do not need your pity." Loki hissed, staying in his chair.

Steve rocked back on his heels, "It's not out of pity, I just think you should try one." he said, although he truly did feel bad for him.

"You are lying to the god of lies, Rogers." Loki scoffed, unimpressed.

Steve looked around him for a moment, before pulling a chair closer so he could whisper.

"Hey, I know what it's like to feel like the odd one out. I know it's not fun, I'm just trying to help."

Loki showed no acts in acknowledging the man beside him, but he was listening nonetheless.

Steve sighed, Loki was hard to talk to, let alone _help_. He raised his stick in one last offering attempt.

"At least try it." Steve mumbled, giving up hope.

Loki stared at him for a moment and then to the stick. Curiosity getting the better of him, he tentatively reached out and pulled off the gooey marshmallow from the end. As much as he didn't want to follow the avengers silly antics, he was still intrigued.

He glanced from the sticky treat in his hand up the the super soldier, who was smiling at him.

Exhaling audibly, Loki popped it in his mouth. Pleasantly surprised at the sweet taste.

Loki looked to him and gave him a rare smile, the only kind of thanks he would show. Deep down, he appreciated that someone was showing some sort of kindness towards him, although he could never admit it.

Steve got up with a satisfied grin and took back his spot next to Clint, who yawned.

"Man, it's getting kinda of late. Where's Coulson? It didn't take us too long to get here."

Natasha nodded, "He should be here soon. "

Without missing a beat, the familiar sound of a helicopter could be heard from not too far away.

"What timing." Bruce mused, as they all got up and started waving, except for Loki who stayed in his chair.

The copter landed in the clearing next to theirs and they walked over to help. As the hatch opened Coulson waved them their hellos, and Shield agents began unpacking the various items.

Not too far away the sound of air being beat into submission could be heard as another helicopter came into sight.

"What's that one for?" Natasha asked, as she took some bags from the agents.

"Tony's boat." Coulson said rather monotonously.

"Yes!" Tony punched the air in excitement as he ran down to the water to meet up with them.

Natasha sighed, and went back down to put their bags in the campsite.

Steve then walked up the ramp to take some of the heavier bags from the agents.

"Captain Rogers." Coulson nodded to him as he came his view.

"Phil." Steve said casually, giving him a grin.

Coulson smiled inwardly at_ Captain America _knowing his first name, but he soon shook his head getting back to business.

The Shield agents were quick, and soon enough they had unpacked all the new supplies needed for the camping avengers. They waved their goodbyes to good old Coulson, and headed over to their new gear.

"Okay, lets set up the tents before it gets too dark." Steve said, turning on his captain role.

They all agreed, and went to unzip all the packages when Tony discovered something.

"Guys, there are like… three tents here." Tony said a little worried.

"What?" Natasha said walking over to him. "I asked him to get tents for all of us!"

"Guys, relax. I'm sure the other tents are just stuck under the rest of the bags." Bruce said calmly.

Clint then rummaged through everything trying to find the other tent packages but found nothing.

"No, this can't be happening." he sighed as he glanced back to them.

"I guess Coulson figured we would share?." Natasha said frowning, "These tents say they fit up to four people." she read off the tag.

"Agh, let's set them up and see." Tony grunted, sliding the poles out of the bag.

In a few minutes they had successfully set up three medium sized tents and Loki came to join them, unimpressed.

"Alright let's get this over with. Who's bunking with who." Clint said tiredly.

"I'm not sleeping with any of you." Natasha said, grabbing her sleeping bag and placing it in one of the tents. Leaving no room for argument.

The boys groaned, unhappy with the situation at hand.

"Okay, let's do this quick. Loki, go with Thor." Steve said, thinking that was a logical choice.

"I will not sleep beside Thor! He snores like a beast!" Loki exclaimed, crossing his arms.

Clint, who just wanted to get to sleep threw his arms up. "I'll sleep with Thor, I'm a heavy sleeper anyways."

"I am too," Bruce said, jumping the chance at being away from Loki.

"I guess that leaves us together?" Steve asked, looking between Tony and Loki.

"I guess so." Tony said shrugging, picking up his bag and heading into a tent.

Loki moaned, entering as well. He guessed he could be in a worse situation. At least this way he was away from Thor and that_ monster._

When Steve entered the tent, he wondered how on earth this was supposed to fit four people. There was barely enough room for the three of them. He put his sleeping bag on the far right. Making Tony between him and Loki.

Steve quickly pulled off his shirt and put on some sweatpants as Tony did the same. He saw Loki sitting on his bag, still in his swim shorts from earlier, looking rather awkward.

"Oh, Shield got some clothes for you." Steve said, tossing him a pair of sweats and a shirt.

Loki caught them, quickly taking his helmet off and pulling said clothes on. Even though the cold didn't bother him, he hated feeling vulnerable.

"Well, I'm going to try and go to sleep." Tony said opening up his sleeping bag. "Goodnight, Steve. Goodnight, Loki." he joked lightly, snuggling into his bag.

"Night," Steve mused, turning over.

Loki stayed silent, before noticing something.

"Stark."

"Yes, dear?" Tony laughed slightly.

"You're rather… bright." Loki said pointing to his reactor.

"Huh? Oh right, sorry." Tony said, flipping over to his stomach, bringing a darkness over them. He was used to the constant light himself, but understood it could bother others.

They were quiet for a while, before Steve started wriggling around trying to get comfortable. Loki sighed at the sound of ruffling blankets and Tony spoke up.

"Steve."

"Mm yeah?" he asked sleepily.

"You're touching me."

"Oh, sorry." he replied trying to move away, which was hard when they were so squished together.

Tony shoved his face back into his pillow, trying to sleep. He groaned inwardly, thinking this whole situation must be some sort of revenge from Coulson. After Steve stopped moving he finally thought he could find sleep… until he heard a thunderous sound coming from the tent beside them.

Thor was snoring.

**Thank you guys so much for all the reviews I got last chapter! They make me feel so good :D You're all amazing :) Also, the ideas you all suggested were fantastic! Keep them coming, I'll be sure to use them in the future!**

**Thanks again! :)**


	7. Awkward

**Chapter 7, Awkward**

Natasha was the first of the team to wake up. She had tuned out Thor's snoring with her headphones, and had a great sleep in her own tent. She threw on a hoodie, and got up deciding to wake the others. She walked over to Tony's tent first, unaware of the situation she would soon be creating.

The three in Tony Stark's tent had a rather stressful time trying to fall asleep last night. If Thor's snoring wasn't keeping them up, the sounds of a restless Steve moving every few minutes was. Although somewhere in the early hours of the morning, they had all found peace and passed out.

Tony had just vaguely heard the sound of Natasha yelling from outside. He came to the conclusion that he was not ready to get up, and tried to fall back asleep. Just as he was going to turn over, he felt something against him. Confused, he opened his eyes. Steve had both his legs draped over his, and Loki was snuggled right into his side. Shocked, and coming to his senses, Tony found that he had his own arm wrapped right around Loki, keeping him in place. Mortified, Tony was about to move away when the tents zipper was being pulled down.

"Wake up sunshi-" Natasha stopped abruptly when she saw inside.

Tony's eyes went wider than ever before as he took in Natasha's shocked expression.

"Um..." she started, not sure what to think.

Tony tried to stutter out a reply. "N-no no no no, this is _not _what is looks like_." _he said, his cheeks going completely red.

Loki soon woke up and discovered his position beside Stark. He ruffly pushed him away, and into Steve.

"STARK? What are you doing!" Loki shouted in embarrassment.

Steve then woke up, oblivious to the whole situation. "Why are we yelling..." Steve mumbled, sleep still in his voice. But was soon drowned out from the argument going on beside him.

"I-I wasn't doing anything! I mean I didn't mean too? I'm just as confused as you!" Tony shot back, glancing to Natasha for help.

"I'll just leave you guys alone." Natasha said, leaving to wake up the other three boys. Shaking her head with a playful smile.

Tony glanced back to Loki, "Honestly, I just woke up like that.. I have no recollection of wanting to… cuddle with you."

Loki stared at him for a moment. He guessed it was believable, the tent _was _rather small. He looked away. Not wanting to speak of this awkward conversation any longer.

"I'm so confused." Steve said from beside them, rubbing his eyes.

"Don't worry about it." Tony replied, deciding not to speak about his _leg_ situation either.

The three of them then started to get ready in silence. Steve put back on a shirt, Tony slid on a sweater, and Loki… well Loki put on his helmet.

As they emerged from the tent, they were faced with the amused faces of the other avengers. Clint had a fist up to his mouth trying not to laugh and Thor looked rather concerned.

"So, I heard you two got a little cozy last night?" Clint asked, not being able to contain himself any longer.

Natasha elbowed him in the side, but was wearing a grin of her own.

"Shut it, bird." Tony said, walking past them and over to the food supply. Pleased that they had the courtesy of packing poptarts. He grabbed a few, knowing that Thor would probably eat them all in a matter of seconds. The rest of the team soon followed him in getting breakfast from the various boxes and bags of food Shield had got them.

Tony noticed that Loki once again was looking left out, and rather lost. Sighing, he glanced around hoping no one would see him and he walked over to the God.

"Here." he said holding out a poptart.

Loki stared at the pink frosted pastry, before hesitantly taking it from Tony's hand.

"You'll like it. Your brother goes crazy over them." He said, glancing to Thor who hand his hand shoved down a box, searching for more of them.

Loki took a bite out of it, not surprised to find it very sugary.

"You mortals eat treats for breakfast." he said in slight distaste.

"Yeah, it's awesome right?" Tony said with a smirk, hoping things weren't still weird from before.

Loki stayed silent, taking another bite of his poptart.

Tony sighed, things were definitely still weird.

The team chatted idly, and finished up their breakfast just as it was starting to get hot out.

"Tony, do you think we could go out on your boat today?" Steve asked, wanting to get out on the water.

"For sure!" Tony exclaimed, looking to the rest of them. "Do you guys want to come?" he asked eagerly.

"Yeah, let's do it. Natasha and Loki could use a tan." Clint laughed, giving her a sly grin and blocking the punch she threw at him.

The rest of the team agreed to come, and soon started getting ready. Tony inspected his boat, checked the engine, and tested out the stereo system coming back very satisfied. He also made sure there were enough life jackets, and such. He even found his old sailor hat in one of the glove compartments, and put it on at a jaunty angle.

"All aboard!" he yelled waving to the others.

They saw him and laughed to themselves, walking over and hopping on to the boat.

"Nice hat." Bruce mentioned, moving to sit beside him.

Tony smirked, and went to his captains chair. "Alright guys, get settled. Loki, Thor, you guys find something to hold onto. This can go pretty fast for your standards."

Thor scoffed, but did as he told and soon enough him and Loki were securely seated.

Tony stared the boat, and was glad that they easily adapted to the speed. The last thing he wanted was two seasick gods on his boat. As they got more confident they were able to move to the back, where it was more comfortable. Everything was going fine before Thor thought it was a good idea to stand up.

"Hey, buddy I think you should still be holding onto something." Clint said from his spot in the middle.

"Nonsense. There is nothing this petty Earth invention can do to move the mighty Thor!"

Clint rolled his eyes, moving to sit down as the wind started to pick up, causing the boat to rock.

"See, I can withstand this." Thor said puffing out his chest.

Tony looked back worriedly, "Well, it's getting a bit ruff out. I'd sit down for a little while."

Thor was about to boast out a reply, when a larger wave made him stumble backwards, right into his brother. Loki, being a little top heavy from his helmet, was knocked backwards from the contact.

Right into the water.

**Aghh! I hope I didn't disappoint.. :s really like to hear what you guys think so far! Or if you have any more ideas! You're all so kind, and amazing!**

**Thanks! All of you! :)**


	8. Fishing Him Out

**Chapter 7, Fishing Him Out**

The avengers all shared scared looks as they took in what just happened. Tony took action and quickly turned the boat around.

Thor's face dropped as he realized that this was half his fault and started yelling.

"Brother! We will save you!"

Tony spotted Loki not to far ahead and sped towards him. Everyone quickly crowded the edge of the boat to get a better look.

They all gasped as they saw his motionless body face down in the water.

Steve quickly took action and had jumped over the boat in a matter of seconds, swimming towards him. He brought Loki over his shoulder and swam towards the ladder Tony had put down from the boat. Soon enough he had got them both up and on board.

As Steve placed his body atop the seats, Thor swiftly pushed him away and he leaned down towering over his little brother. Pausing for a moment.

"He's not breathing!" he exclaimed, as more and more fear entered his voice.

Tony then came over and pressed two fingers to his neck. "He still has a heartbeat… but he's really cold! Does that mean something?" He asked, puzzled at the icy feeling he felt.

"Someone's going to have to do CPR." Natasha said calmly, trying to get some control in the situation.

Thor looked quizzically at Natasha, not understanding her words and about to ask, when he saw Tony begin to press down on his brothers chest. He realized that it must have been what they called some form of resuscitation.

Tony had only gotten a few chest compressions in when Loki started shaking. The crew all came to get a closer look at his strange convulsions. The team stood worried all fretting about what was happening. Their worry all soon turned to disgust as they noticed his shaking was from silent laughter.

Loki's eyes shot open as he bursted out laughin, pushing Stark away from him. He sat up, looking at all their shocked faces with a pleased smile.

"Y-you imbeciles!" he said between laughter. "I am a god! You think something as petty as_ water _could harm me?" he said, a smirk never leaving his lips.

Tony was just about ready to smack the smirk right off his face when Thor stepped in front of him.

"Loki, how could you do such a thing?" he said, in a disappointed voice.

"Oh don't be like that. It was merely a prank. One you deserved after pushing me over!" he shot back, raising an eyebrow.

"That was an accident!" Thor exclaimed, "We thought you were injured. How is that a prank?"

"Yeah, we actually cared enough to help you." Tony snapped, moving from behind Thor. "But you can forget about that now."

Loki glanced to Tony, "You didn't care. You just didn't want to deal with the consequences." he said quietly.

"You think we do not care for you?" Thor asked, furrowing his eyebrows. "The Captain of America jumped in the second he saw you in the water." he said pointing to Steve who was dripping wet.

"Yeah, I got my shirt all wet for nothing." he mumbled, wringing out his soaked clothes.

Loki rolled his eyes, refusing to believe that any of them would care for him. "Oh well, the trick is over now." he said brushing it off as if it were nothing. "May I have something to dry myself off I-"

He was cut off from Steve's sopping wet t-shirt hitting him in the face.

The group started laughing, glad to have some levity brought back into their trip as Loki peeled the shirt away from himself. Staring at all of them in distaste.

Tony started back up the boat, and everyone found seats away from Loki. Tony glanced to the god, all alone in the front, catching his eye and giving him a shake of his head. Soon bringing his sight back to the water in front of them, missing the look of remorse that briefly passed through Loki's eyes.

Tony soon found smoother waters and dropped the anchor, deciding it would be a good spot to stop and have lunch. The sun was now beating down and Natasha decided to tan in the back with Clint while Thor was busy eating all the sandwiches.

Bruce had come up to talk with Tony, and made absolutely no move to acknowledge the lonely Loki up front.

Loki had decided to try and listen into their conversation, as he was becoming bored out of his mind being ignored since the 'incident'. He heard the word 'fishing' and that piqued his interest even more to listen in. That was something he was familiar with, even on Asgard he was _forced_ to go on fishing trips with Thor, although he secretly enjoyed doing so.

Tony had gotten up and showed Bruce where he kept his fishing rods and tackle. Soon enough the two of them had gotten their lines in the water and agreed on a playful competition on who could catch the first fish.

Loki watched them for a while, noticing their methods of casting said line out into the water. He continued to stare at the two unlucky fishermen before him, and decided that he wouldn't mind trying to fish again. He slowly got up and made his way over to Tony.

"I was wondering if you had another rod? Fishing is something I am actually familiar with." he said quietly, hating how little he felt under the mens gaze. Even though he was a good few inches taller than both of them.

Tony glanced to Bruce who just stared blankly back at him. He debated whether or not he should let Loki have any fun, after what he did to them all, but he gave in, "Uh, yeah there's another in the back." he replied before placing his rod down and going to retrieve it for him.

Loki took a chance looking down to the other man, giving him a sheepish smile. To which Bruce just turned and looked away.

Loki sighed, and glanced to Tony who was walking back towards him with another rod.

"Thank you." Loki said quietly, and inspected the lure that was already tied to his line. Deciding he had understood how to use the rod enough, he took the spot next to Tony, pulled his rod back, pressed down the button in the front, and threw his line out. In return getting a very successful cast.

He glanced to Tony who looked over to him and gave him an impressed nod.

The three of them continued to slowly reel in their bate, silently hoping that they would get the first catch of the day. They had all been having bad luck, until Loki felt a tug on his line. He quickly jerked the rod and hooked whatever was biting his lure. With an excited smile, he continued to reel in, wondering what sort of Midgardian creature he could have caught. Tony and Bruce pulled their lines in and watched Loki, curious themselves as to what he got.

His line got closer and closer to the boat before he pulled it out, revealing his catch.

It was the smallest fish Tony had ever seen in his lfie. He let out a cry of laughter as Loki looked at the fish puzzled. Bruce walked over and inspected it with a laugh of his own.

"Good job Loki, you caught the smallest baby perch in the world." he said giving him a pat on the back.

Loki brought a hand to his face, it was rather funny to be honest. He had used bigger fish as bait back in Asgard. He tried to stifle a laugh he felt coming on, but he couldn't help it. It felt good to laugh. He hadn't truly done so in months, and he was glad that the tension from earlier seemed to be dripping away.

Clint had gotten up from hearing all the commotion and walked over to them, seeing for himself. "Dude! That's tiny!" he cried, searching around for his bag. "Wait up a minute, I want a picture of this." He quickly found his phone and told them to get in the picture.

Loki was glad he knew of this technology Clint spoke of, but it was still quite new to him. Obviously after the whole 'take over the world' thing he had many pictures taken of him, but those were all… against his will.

He glanced over to Tony who put his arm around him and pointed to the fish hanging off his line. Loki looked back to the camera, a small smile still playing at his lips. Clint took the picture and gave them a thumbs up, putting his phone back in his bag.

"Alright, I think we should throw him back now." Tony said, taking his arm off Loki and giving the fish a sympathetic look.

Loki nodded and swiftly unhooked the perch, giving him one last glance before tossing him into the water.

Things were starting to brighten up.

**Yay, he didn't drown! Aha, got any summer past times you want to see Loki attempt to do? Leave a review and I'm sure you'll see it appearing in the story sooner or later! I love hearing your guys' ideas! And what you think! **

**Thanks a lot! :)**


	9. Similarities

**Chapter 9, Similarities**

The rest of the afternoon was relatively lazy for the avengers and their plus one. The three boys spent the day away fishing while the others relaxed, and basked in the suns rays. Thor, Clint, and Natasha decided to tan while Steve got bored and watched his friends fish. Throughout the day no one had caught anything remarkable. Tony and Bruce had a few good sized bass, and the perch seemed to like Loki, but that was all. Regardless, it was still a fun time for them.

As the sun began to set, Tony decided it would be a good idea to start heading back. Everyone grabbed a seat, but Loki was a little apprehensive to sit in the back. He didn't exactly want to be pushed off the edge again even if it was by accident, so Tony let him sit up front beside him.

Everyone was rather quiet on the way back. They were all surprised at the fact of how spending a day lounging in the sun could tire you out. Clint started to drift off in the back, as the consistent rocking of the boat gently lulled him to sleep. He ended up leaning over, and landed against Natasha's shoulder. Bruce glanced over to the two and raised an eyebrow at the assassin, to which she replied with rolling her eyes. Bruce then looked away, a small smile on his lips pretending as if he saw nothing.

Soon Tony had safely driven them all to shore, and on arriving to their campsite he noticed they had all somehow drifted off to sleep. The only exception being Loki. Tony glanced around to the sleeping heroes around them and then locked eyes with the god of mischief. He pointed to him, and silently motioned for him to come over. Loki got up cautiously, wondering what he was up to and walked over. Tony then brought his fist up to his lips as if to stifle a laugh, and pointed to a button near the steering wheel.

Loki raised an eyebrow at him in confusion, but Tony waved him off.

"Watch this." he mouthed.

Loki stayed silent and did as he was told.

Tony slammed his fist down on the button he pointed out earlier and an extremely loud honk sounded, violently waking everyone up.

Tony bursted out laughing, as all of their heads shot up and Loki couldn't help but grin.

"Ah what the hell!" Clint yelled, rubbing his head. Giving the both of them daggers.

Natasha soon joined in by swearing at them in some other language Tony assumed to be Russian.

Bruce and Steve had just looked around confused for a few moments and Thor looked as if he was ready for battle.

"Are you in peril?" Thor shouted, glancing around the boat as if looking for an enemy of sorts.

"Nah man, we're good." Tony said, a smile still on his face. "Just thought we'd give you a free wake up call." he laughed glancing over to Loki who still had a smile on his face.

Thor had raised his eyebrows and looked around again, as if making sure that there were in fact no foes ready to attack.

Tony chuckled, and brought a hand up to pat Loki's shoulder. "Alright guys, land-ho, let's get back to camp." he smiled at them all before jumping off the side of the boat and tying it up for the night.

They all groggily climbed off, and entered the campground. Waking up as they realized they should probably start up a fire.

Bruce walked off and inspected the fire pit. "Hey guys, we need more fire wood. You can check the forest, we scavenged all the pieces around here last time."

Tony nodded over to him in agreement, "Yeah, Loki and I will go get some."

Loki's head shot up, "We will?"

"Yeah, come on." Tony said, waiting for Loki at the entrance of the tree line. He needed to ask him something.

Loki soon walked over, a puzzled expression on his face, wondering why Tony Stark wold deliberately choose him to come with.

They stayed silent until they were farther into the forest. The sounds back at camp being blocked out. Finally safe from the other hearing them.

"You know, somethings been bothering me." Tony began, startling Loki at his abruptness.

"Yes?" Loki asked, knowing it had something to do with him.

"When you faked your whole drowning incident earlier, there was one thing that stood out." he started. "I can understand how you just held your breath and all but.. when I checked for your pulse… you were cold. I mean like, _really_ cold. Even the water couldn't have changed your temperature that drastically."

Loki stared down to his feet as they continued walking. "Oh," was his only reply.

"Care to explain?" Tony pressed.

Loki stiffened, before hesitantly answering. "…Check my pulse again." he said, as he stopped walking.

"What?" Tony asked, furrowing his eyebrows.

"Check my pulse,"

Tony gave him a weird look, but tentatively brought his two fingers up and pressed them against his neck. Once again, he felt the unnatural icy coolness of Loki's skin.

"Woah, what the heck…" Tony said, bringing his hands to touch his own much warmer neck, making sure he wasn't imagining it. "How are you so cold?"

Loki took a deep breath before allowing himself to explain. "Ah, I'm sure Thor has told you all I was adopted, has he not?"

"Umm, yeah he did.. I don't see how that changes things." Tony said, confused.

"He did not tell you of my true origins?"

"No, he didn't say much."

"Very well." Loki sighed, not wanting to go into detail about his past. "I am from a place called Jotunheim. And I was born what is called a frost giant."

"Huh?" Tony replied, even more confused than before.

Loki brought a hand up to his forehead. He really didn't want to show Tony his true form. At least, not yet. So, he came up with a better idea.

"Well, what it basically means is that… I have a lower temperature. Usually the armour I wear is enchanted, keeping my body heat regulated. But now…" he trailed off, glancing to his shorts and t-shirt. "I'm rather exposed."

"Oh." Tony said, nodding his head. "So, are you able to withstand colder conditions than humans? Or… Asgardians?"

"Yes, quite." he said nodding as well. "I must say I'm impressed with your reaction. Just as you said earlier about your reactor chest, people would have been absolutely disgusted to know I was _different_ on Asgard. But you don't seem to care."

Tony laughed lightly, "Well I think it's pretty cool." he paused for a moment. "Pun_ totally_ intended."

Loki looked up to him and smiled, happy Stark could find the lightness in every situation. But he soon turned serious again. "I would hope that you, don't share this with the others."

"Your secrets safe with me." Tony said sincerely.

Loki nodded, "I appreciate that. Thank you, Tony."

Tony smiled, "No problem." he thought for a moment before smirking, "You know, this is the first time I think you've ever called me Tony."

Loki laughed lightly, "Well, don't get used to it."

Tony shook his head and continued to smile. "Well, I think we should probably start gathering some fire wood eh?"

"Yes, the others are probably wondering what to do with themselves." Loki added playfully.

Tony smirked, picking up a few pieces of wood. "Yup, what would they do without us?"

"They'd probably celebrate if I was gone, to be honest."

Tony thought for a moment. "Hmm, I don't know. I think they may just be warming up to you. Although, your prank seemed to take you back a few steps." he said lightly.

Loki stayed silent at that one, and continued to pick up some sticks.

But it brought you forward a few steps in my books, Tony mused to himself and continued to search for more firewood.

**Ahhh! What do you guys think about whats goin on so far? D: I'm always concerned as to what you guys think! **

**Thanks! :)**


	10. Stories

**Chapter 10, Stories**

Loki and Tony had picked up the rest of the needed wood in a companionable silence. When they came out of the forest with their hands full it was nearly dark. The rest of the team had been anxiously awaiting their return as they sat by the empty fire pit.

"What took you guys so long?" Steve asked curiously.

"Yeah, it's starting to get cold." Clint added.

Loki placed down his pile in the middle before replying. "We had to go quite far in the forest to find suitable wood." he answered smoothly.

Tony glanced to him and then back to the group nodding his head, placing down his own pile of sticks.

"Well, okay. Hurry up the breeze is freezing from the lake." Clint said snuggling deeper into his hoodie.

Tony rolled his eyes and asked for a lighter. Soon enough they had the fire going.

"Can we roast the marshed mallows again tonight?" Thor asked eagerly.

"Marshmallows Thor, and no_ somebody_ ate the whole bag." Clint said, giving Natasha a pointed look.

"Oh please, you guys ate just as many." she scoffed.

"You ate them right out of the bag!" Clint piped up.

"Okay, okay it doesn't matter." Steve said, breaking them up. "The real question is… what could we do now?"

Tony shrugged and sat down beside him. Loki soon followed.

"Let's all hold hands and sing campfire songs." Clint said as if it were obvious.

"Oh and then we can play truth or dare!" Tony added in mock excitement.

Thor and Loki both shared confused looks as the two kept rattling off names of what they guessed were juvenile activities.

"Oh yes! Then we can tell scary stories!" Clint said over enthusiastically.

"Oh I'll start! Once upon a time there was a hawk, named Clint." Tony said lamely, before the group stared chuckling.

Thor then spoke up, "All jokes aside, Loki actually knows some very scary stories." he said glancing towards his brother.

"I'd believe it." Natasha said with a smirk.

"I'm up for a good scare, Loki show us what you got." Tony smiled, turning to face him.

"No, I'd rather not…" Loki said staring at the ground.

"Come on Loki, we're bored." Bruce added.

Loki bit his lip, deciding if he should tell him the story he had in mind. "I must warn you, it is rather gruesome."

"Oh try us." Clint said, getting impatient.

Loki sighed before giving in. "Okay, well.. In the dark days of Asgard there was a lonesome wizard who majored in the practices of black magic…" he started.

He continued to go on to tell the tale of an unlucky wizard, who had the grotesque fate of having his lips sewn together after betraying his kind. As he finished off, he looked around to each avengers face. They were all staring at him wide eyed.

"Dude, what goes on in your mind…" Clint trailed off, glancing around slightly freaked out.

The rest of the team shared the same look.

"I was not expecting that." Steve said quietly rocking back in his chair a bit.

Tony then turned to him, "Yeah, that was… descriptive."

"Thor brought it up and I warned you, you all insisted." Loki defended himself.

The team all glanced to Thor.

"I do not remember it having that much… detail the first time I heard it." he said sheepishly.

The team sat in a very awkward silence for a few moments.

"Well, it was scary." Tony said, "I'll give you that."

Loki sighed, placing his head in his hands.

It was silent again. All that could be heard was the flicker of the fire and the slight sound of the waves gently splashing into the shore.

It was rather peacefull until SNAP, the sound of a twig breaking in the distance was heard.

Everybody jumped, including Loki.

"What was that?" Tony asked, looking around.

"It was just a twig snapping, probably an animal or something." Bruce said, trying to calm down.

The team visibly relaxed, and eased into their chairs again. Until there was another snap, much closer this time.

Steve jumped and grabbed onto the closet thing to him. That being Tony's arm.

Tony gave him a weird look before ripping his arm out of his grasp. "Okay guys. Calm down.. it's not like someone's going to come out of the woods and torture us with sewing needles." he joked.

Until there was another snap.

"Right?"

"Okay, we have Earth and Asgard's mightiest heroes all in a group, and we're afraid of a sound?" Natasha sighed. "I'm going to go to bed."

"Wait! Stay here until we figure out what it is." Clint said, grabbing for her hand.

Natasha looked at him confused for a moment, and Clint looked to their hands before quickly letting go.

"Umm, alright?" she said quietly, sitting back down confused.

The others eyed them carefully until another snap echoed out.

"Okay, I'm getting freaked out. I need to know what this is." Tony admitted getting up.

"We need a plan." Steve said, getting up as well.

Tony sighed. "Steve, this isn't a mission. We just need to scare off this.. chipmunk or whatever it is."

SNAP.

"I don't think a chipmunk could make that loud of a noise." Bruce deadpanned.

"Whatever! I know I won't be able to sleep until I know what this is. Loki, Steve, come with me we're finding this thing."

They both protested before Tony threatened to kick them out of the tent if they didn't come. They then sighed and begrudgingly got up.

"You guys hold down the fort." He motioned to the rest sitting down with unimpressed smirks. "If you hear us screaming, please… don't tell Fury."

"Yeah yeah, go ahead." Bruce said, waving them off with a smile.

The three set off in the direction of the sounds.

"Hey, shouldn't we grab a flashlight or something?" Steve asked.

Tony stopped and looked to Steve, before he unzipped his sweater exposing his reactor. Thus causing a light to be around them.

"I see." Steve mumbled and kept his head down.

It didn't take them too long before they heard another snap. Causing Tony and Steve to flinch.

"Dammit Loki, why'd you have to tell the story?" Tony muttered to himself.

Soon enough they had wondered around aimlessly not having any success. They were about to give up as it was starting to get a little too cold for their likings.

"Alright, it probably ran off lets go ba-" Steve was cut off from Loki yelling.

"I see the beast!" He called out, pointing off to the left.

"What where?" Tony asked walking over to him, seeing a pair of eyes shine in the light.

"Oh it's hideous!" Loki called out, continuing to point at it.

Steve had walked up, and began squinting at the 'beast' in question.

"Oh my gosh." Steve started.

"L-Loki…" Tony managed to stutter out.

Steve and Tony looked to each other before bursting out laughing. Tony actually needed to take a knee from wheezing so hard.

"T-that that's a deer Loki!" Tony cried, grabbing his stomach.

Loki stared at them and then back to the beast that had quickly jumped away from their loud outburst. "I don't care what you Midgardian's call it, that's an abomination."

That just fuelled their laughter more, and Steve began shaking his head at the situation.

Tony finally started to calm down, "I thought you'd like it, you know it has antlers just like you!" he laughed.

"Wait, this is the thing you keep referencing me to?" Loki said furrowing his eyebrows.

"Yes." Tony said, finally being able to breath properly.

Loki turned to him, and pointed to his helmet. "I look nothing like that." he hissed rather childishly.

"Whatever helps you sleep at night." Tony chided sarcastically, before standing back up. "Come on, let's go share our discovery of the horrible beast."

Loki gave him a dirty look, and walked back with them in silence. It only took them a moment to get back to their friends, sitting around the nearly burnt out fire.

"We heard you laughing, what happened?" Natasha asked.

"Loki found the… uh beast." Tony said trying not to laugh again.

"And…?"

"Well, it was a deer." Tony said straight faced.

"You're joking." Clint said with an amused smile.

Loki felt his cheeks begin to heat up, and was glad he the darkness of the night hid them well. "How was I supposed to know of such an animal?" he said calmly.

"That is true, I am not familiar with this 'deer' you speak of either." Thor said from his spot.

Tony shrugged, "Well, let's just say they aren't the most meaning looking creatures. Oh, and they have antlers like Loki." he smirked.

"Ah, I see." Thor smiled, glancing to his brother.

"Alright, now that's settled. I'm going to bed." Natasha yawned and got up, walking over to her tent.

"Yeah, I guess we should too." Tony said glancing over to Steve and Loki, who nodded.

"Goodnight everyone," they each mumbled to each other before each going into their designated tents.

Tony entered his tent, and quickly got under his sleeping bag before Loki and Steve came in.

"Can we try not to all end up cuddling in the morning this time?" Tony asked with a laugh as they each entered their own sleeping bags.

Loki scoffed and Steve nodded, looking confused.

"Alright, goodnight guys." Tony mumbled flipping to his stomach.

"Night." Steve said.

"…Goodnight." Loki added, quietly.

**I'd like to thank 'msgone' for the suggestion of telling scary stories! And I'd like to thank all of you for reading! I'm glad you're enjoying it. Review, and you may just end up cuddling Loki in the morning! xD Thanks again guys! :) **


	11. Bump, Set, Burn

**Chapter 11, Bump, Set, Burn.**

It truly was a beautiful morning. The birds were chirping the sun was shining and and Thor hadn't snored at all during the night. The three in Tony's tent even had a peaceful rest as Captain America decided not to thrash around every five minutes, unlike the night before.

Tony was the first of them to wake up. Sleepily he opened his eyes, glad to see that no one was touching him this morning. He yawned, and stretched out noticing the sun was just shining through the slit in their tent and knew it would definitely be hot today. He pulled off his sweater and placed on a fresh shirt, glancing over to Steve and Loki who were still asleep. He bit his lip for a moment wondering how he should wake them up. He was about to get Natasha but soon had a better idea. He smirked to himself, and picked up his pillow. Without hesitation he whipped it right at Loki's head.

The God woke up groggily, turning over to see what happened when Tony threw another pillow right to his face.

"Agh, Stark!" came his muffled scream. "Imbecile!" he remarked once he ripped the pillow away, which hit Steve and woke him up.

Steve shot up startled form the impact and was looking around disoriented, as usual.

"Two birds with one stone." Tony muttered to himself with a smile, unzipping the tent to leave.

Loki frowned, "You'll pay for this rude awakening!" he shouted, glancing over to Steve who just raised an eyebrow.

"Good morning?" the solider tried, but was just faced with another one of Loki's scoffs.

Outside, Tony walked over to the other tents and woke them up in a nicer fashion.

"Get up!" he shouted, walking over to get some breakfast. "Up, up up!"

Well, slightly nicer.

Natasha emerged from her lonely tent, and the rest of the boys were soon to follow.

"It's gonna be hot today." Tony mentioned to her, as she joined him in grabbing some food.

She nodded in agreement, walking over to sit in the chairs now with a poptart in hand. She had to hide the last box from Thor as he destroyed the other three.

"Like really hot, you should put on some sunscreen." Tony teased, sitting beside her. "Cause you know… redheads and all."

"Enough with the comments." she said rolling her eyes, sick of his annoying tone.

"Alright alright, just looking out for you." Tony smirked, continuing to bother her. "Although I did hear an interesting fact the other day about gingers."

Natasha quirked an eyebrow at him, slightly intrigued. "And?"

"Is it true that you guys don't have sou-" Tony was interrupted by a poptart to the face. It broke in half and fell to the ground while he just sat in his chair in shock. "Umm, ow!" Stark finally shouted, rubbing his cheek. While Natasha had a good laugh beside him.

Thor looked over to the commotion across from him and nearly cringed as he saw the sugary treat on the ground. "We had more of these?" he whined and stared at the pink frosted pastry that was now abandoned in the dirt. He eyed the food, trying to restrain himself from going over there and eating it.

"Don't do it." came Clint's steady tone as if he could read the gods mind. He gave Thor a sympathetic look and passed him a granola bar. "Here."

Thor nearly whimpered. "I do not like these." but he opened the wrapper and ate it regardless.

Tony was still rubbing his face when the rest of the team decided to join them in the circle.

"Do I want to know what happened?" Bruce asked, glancing between the smirking Black Widow and the frowning Iron Man.

"Natasha was being too sensitive." Tony said giving her a dirty look.

"_Tony_, leaned a lesson." Natasha stated simply with a grin.

"It was an honest question!" he blurted out, trying to defend himself the best he could.

"Well why don't you save those for Pepper?" asked Natasha. "She has red hair as well." she shot back.

"Yeah, well Pepper would kill me." he said shrugging his shoulders.

"And you don't think I will?" Natasha asked with a devilish smile, raising one eyebrow.

The Avengers all let out a collective "Ooooh." as Tony tried to come up with some sort of response to top that.

"Okay, okay. I give. No mas." Tony said putting up his hands in a mock surrender.

Natasha sighed with a satisfied smirk, and relaxed back into her chair.

"So what's the plan for today?" Steve asked changing the subject, glad that their little episode was over.

Tony thought for a moment before his eyes lit up. "Beach volleyball?" he asked, a little more excited than he should be.

"Oh Coulson packed us the net! I saw it." Clint said, just as eager.

"You guys up for a game?" Tony asked, glancing around hoping for a yes.

"Why are you guys so excited?" Natasha asked, puzzled. She had enjoyed playing volleyball when she was younger, but never found anything too spectacular about it.

"Volleyball and sand are just two things that go perfectly together." Clint said, getting a nod from Tony. "It makes the game, ten times more fun."

Natasha gave them a weird look but couldn't help but smile at their joy.

"I'm afraid that Loki and I are unaware of this thing you speak of." Thor said speaking up. "Would you care to enlighten us?"

Tony glanced over to Loki, who once again looked completely lost. Although he covered it well with a bored expression.

"Okay, let's set up the nets down where it gets sandier and grab the ball. I'll bring the gods up to speed." Tony said, as the team got up and did what they were told.

Natasha walked over to where the equipment was but made a quick detour into her tent first. Tony was right, it was extremely sunny out today and she would get burnt if she wasn't careful. She quickly sprayed on some sunscreen hoping no one noticed her dissapearance and went to help out the others.

Soon enough, Thor and Loki had the basic rules of volleyball in their minds and the nets were placed nicely in the sand. Tony and Clint set the ball back and forth to each other as to give them a better idea before they actually started up a game.

"Let's make teams." Steve said as everyone came towards him. He was always taking the leading role.

"Sure, you and I are captains, _Captain_." Tony smirked, stepping beside him.

Steve smiled, he was always chosen last for sports. Never once was he the captain. _Look at me now_ he mused to himself. "Okay, Clint." he chose, shaking himself from his thoughts.

Tony sighed, he wanted Clint.

Stark's team ended up being Loki, Bruce, and Thor. While Steve got Clint, and Natasha. They silently agreed that Loki was a fair handicap, as he really showed no interest in the game.

Thor proved to be rather good, as he was extremely strong and athletic. Bruce was alright, and Loki… well, Loki sucked to be honest. Every time the ball came near him he would step away, and stare at it in distaste. Tony soon grew tired of Natasha and Clint's unstoppable moves that would end up with a perfect bump set spike ending up with Steve in the front, and decided they should take a break.

Loki sighed and muttered. "Finally." to himself and turned his back to the others, glad to have some time to his own thoughts. Although those were soon interrupted.

"Hey why aren't you even trying?" Tony asked walking up beside Loki.

"Because this game, is childish. And I do not wish to participate." He said flippantly, dismissing the matter with a wave of his hand.

"Oh come on, there's got to be another reason." Tony said more quietly, glancing around them to make sure no one was eavesdropping on their conversation.

Loki shook his head and looked to the man in front of him. "Why do you care?" he asked raising an eyebrow.

"Because, our team sucks because of you!" Tony joked lightly, "But seriously though, you don't look like you're having any fun."

Loki sighed, wondering why Tony Stark would care about how much fun he was having. "I never really excelled in things such as these 'sports'." Loki admitted.

Tony nodded, happy he could get some sort of answer out of him. "And, why is that?" he pressed further.

"Everyone always was bigger, or stronger than myself. I never had a chance." he said quietly. "I've found that if you do not even try, you truly can't be seen as failing."

Tony felt a pang of sadness for the smaller god, and glanced down. "I can see what you're getting at." he raised a hand and put it on the gods shoulder. "But honestly, anyone can play volleyball." he said with a smirk, trying to lighten the situation. "Although, maybe you should take off your helmet so you can at least see the ball better." he chided, pointing upwards. "Also, you'd probably get really weird tan lines from that."

Loki smiled, "Perhaps."

"Hey are you guys ready?" Steve yelled over from where the rest of them were getting back into position, interrupting their talk.

Tony gave Loki one last look before turning back, to which Loki nodded. "Yeah we're good!" and he walked back onto their area.

Loki followed suit but paused for a moment as he took of his helmet and placed it over to the side of the court.

Unaware of the suns harmful rays that would soon effect some more than others.

**Agh the sun! Don't worry, next chapter will have more volleyball for those who suggested! And nearly 100 reviews! I'm so flattered, I never expected this to get anywhere as many! You guys are awesome! :)**

**Thanks! :) **


	12. Bump, Set, Burn Pt2

**Chapter 12, Bump, Set, Burn Part 2**

As the sun continued to shine so did the team's volleyball game. Loki deciding to actually try was a huge improvement and he showed to have some skill. Tony kept him up front as he proved to be very good at blocking and spiking, no surprises there due to his height. Soon enough Tony and Loki had become as strong as a team as Clint and Natasha when it came to setting up nice plays. Bruce covered the back nicely, and Thor was obviously very good at bashing so he was valuable all around. Soon enough they had a great system going and brought the score up to a tie.

The cool breeze from the lake kept them from noticing the sun beating down on their backs as the day went on. Clint was starting to get frustrated from Loki's constant blocks over the net and Thor's merciless hits. In a near fit of rage he spiked the ball unnecessarily hard at Loki. He knew it was a little harsh but the god needed that smirk wiped off his face. Although to his dismay, Loki easily brought up his hand and deflected the shot.

"Okay, what is with your reflexes? This is just getting creepy!" Clint exclaimed as the ball bounced and rolled to a stop.

Loki just continued to smile, and Tony nearly started to laugh. "Calm down man, it's just a game. You got the point anyway."

"It's not just a game!" Clint argued. Natasha rolled her eyes and walked over to him giving him a pat on the back. He ran a hand through his hair and let out a puff of air. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry." he mumbled.

"Control your anger!" Bruce yelled from the other side, getting a high five from Tony in return.

Clint shook his head, "Alright I think the heat's getting to me." he said squinting into the sky, not a single cloud in sight.

"Yeah, we should take a break soon. Next point wins?" Tony suggested.

"Yeah, our ball." Clint said wiping some sweat off his forehead.

Tony rolled Clint the ball who passed it over to Steve to serve. It was placed perfectly but Thor dove for it in the back keeping it up. Tony then set it to Loki who spiked it over, though Clint wasn't having any of it. As the ball came to him he knocked it back to Natasha who hit past Loki. Bruce then quickly bumped it back to the front and it nearly started all over again. It slowly got more and more competitive as they seemed to come to some sort of stalemate with neither of them able to get the point.

Finally someone made a mistake. Thor dove too early for a ball, and was just able to flick it back up. Tony had to nearly bend backwards to just get it over and blindly hit it. This was the perfect opportunity for Clint, and he had plenty of time to prepare. As the ball soared over to him he jumped, ready for the spike. Although, he may have smacked it just a little too hard as it hit Tony before he could get back up. The ball then bounced off his shoulder and zoomed to the left. Right to where Loki took off his helmet. The ball knocked it over, and was punctured by one of the large gold horns, deflating rather comically.

The Avengers all glanced around speechless to the scene before them. Thor picked himself up off the ground and Tony was rubbing his shoulder. "Well…" he drawled. "I guess you win."

Loki walked over to his helmet and peeled the ball off of it, handing it to Clint. The archer stared at it for a moment before dropping it to the ground. "Um, I'm sorry." he said glancing up to the rest of the team.

"Well, games over at least." Steve said flatly.

The rest of the team nodded being too tired to get in a fight over a ball and decided to head back to camp. Although Loki stayed silent and inspected his helmet on the ground, making sure there were no scratches. The metal was hot against his hands, but nothing he couldn't handle. He picked it up and followed after the rest of the guys.

Tony saw Loki was trailing behind and slowed down so he could walk with him. "You're helmet all good?" He asked as he came to his side.

"Seems to be fine." he said, flipping it over for good measure.

Tony placed his hand on the side of helmet to give it a look himself, but pulled back sharply as the metal burned his skin.

"Ouch, probably shouldn't have left it in the sun hmm?" Tony grimaced looking at his hand.

Loki nodded, "It is rather hot."

"Oh you don't say?"

The god laughed lightly, "My sincerest apologies."

Tony smirked, "Yeah thanks."

After a few moments of watching the helmet glimmer in the sun Tony asked, "So, is it made of pure gold?"

"Completely." Loki said rather proudly.

"You Asgardians seem to love you're flashy things."

"Says the man who wears a red and gold armoured suit?" he countered.

"Er, well nothings wrong with wanting to stand out. Gold is a nice colour." Tony said with a teasing grin.

Loki laughed, "You'd love the palace." he said thinking of the shimmering city he used to call a home.

Tony hummed in acknowledgement, "I bet, Thor's told some pretty impressive stories. Always mocking the architecture of Earth though…"

"Yes, well the standards in Asgard are much higher."

Tony scoffed, "Psh, what about my tower?"

"What did I just say?" Loki said grinning.

"Oh, whatever," Tony said rolling his eyes. "At least I have a tower with my name on it."

Loki paused for a moment. "…Whatever." he mumbled, copying him.

"Mhm." Tony hummed smirking, glad to have won the argument.

They soon joined the rest of the team up at the campsite. Thor already had his hand down one of the coolers, and had grabbed a bunch of sandwiches. The rest of them soon followed and had gotten food and drinks, relaxing out in the shade.

"The sun can really wear a guy out." Bruce said, taking a sip of his decaffeinated coke. He didn't want to risk drinking anything with caffein. Especially out here. Hulking out in the campsite would probably not end well.

"Yeah, I know. I miss my AC." Tony replied, grabbing a drink for Loki and himself.

Loki took the drink from him and examined the label. 'Ice Tea' it read. _Why would anybody in their right mind want iced tea._ He wondered. Tea was perfectly fine the way it was normally prepared. Despite his thoughts he watched how Tony popped the top off and did so himself, taking a sip. He licked his lips at the sweet taste. _Of course,_ _add enough sugar to anything and the humans will love it. _

Tony walked over and sat with his group of super friends in the shade and motioned for Loki to join. Loki waved him off and went to his tent to grab a t-shirt first before slowly heading over.

As Loki came closer Thor spoke up. "Brother you are half decent at this game of volleyball." he said as Loki sat, giving him a smile.

"It's because he's so damn tall." Clint huffed.

"Don't have another hissy fit now dear." Tony teased, getting a laugh from the others.

Clint just glared at him and took a sip from his drink.

They chatted idly for a while, and before they knew it it was becoming time to start up the fire.

xxx

Tony announced that they were having hotdogs tonight and informed the rest to find a stick. He made his way over to Steve and motioned for him to come closer. "Hey, do you think you can you help Loki?" he asked him quietly. "I don't want a repeat of the marshmallow incident."

Steve always willing to help, nodded politely and walked over to Loki's spot. Teaching him the techniques of how to cook a hotdog over a fire.

Loki was much better at roasting this time, and had a perfectly cooked hotdog sitting on his stick, getting an encouraging smile from Steve. Thor on the other hand had completely burnt his. Not wanting to waste food he ate it anyways. Loki looked over to him in disgust, and continued to roast another.

Not too long after dinner Thor Clint and Bruce decided to head off to bed, Natasha following soon after with a yawn.

"Are you guys seriously tired?" Tony asked incredulously. "It's not even that late out."

"I'm pretty tired myself." Steve said standing up. "I'm gonna head off too."

"What? Come on! You guys are no fun." Tony said, giving them dirty looks.

Natasha turned back and gave him a pointed look.

Tony sighed, "Fine, go."

"Night." Steve mumbled, and headed into their tent.

Tony slumped back into his chair and looked over to Loki. "And then there were two."

"Indeed." Loki said, poking the dying out fire with his stick.

Tony sat gazing at the slowly burning embers before standing up, and stretching. "Well," he started, walking to Loki. "I guess we should get to bed as well." he said giving Loki a pat on the back.

Loki yelped at the contact and pulled away quickly. Tony's eyes went wide as he stared at him confused.

"Uh, you alright?"

Loki was too busy trying to look over his back, feeling over his shoulders. "Fine." he said curtly. "That just… stung."

Tony frowned. "I didn't hit you that hard." he said coming to stand beside him.

"I know…" he trailed off, just as confused.

As Tony got closer to him, he started to see the touch of red that was covering his neck.

"Uh oh."

"What is it?" Loki asked, furrowing his eyebrows.

"One sec," Tony said, lifting a finger to look down the back of his shirt. He then saw the angry red that covered his whole back.

Loki squirmed, "Stark what are you doing!"

"You're sunburnt." Tony said ignoring his questions. "Really bad."

"Preposterous. I have never had such a thing before."

"Well our sun is different. Take your shirt off and look for yourself." Tony said, giving him a sympathetic look.

Loki frowned still unbelieving him but pulled off his shirt nonetheless. His frown disappearing as he saw the deep tone his shoulders had turned. "Oh."

Tony nodded, "It's going to kill tonight if you don't put something on that."

"What do you suggest?" Loki asked, acutely worried of his injuries.

"I think we have some aloe vera. It's a plant but we have a cooling gel. It's good for burns and such." Loki nodded, thinking they had something similar back in Asgard. Although magic was much more practical.

They walked over to the gear and Tony came back with a blue bottle giving it to Loki. "Here put this on your shoulders, it should take the stinging out a bit." Loki nodded and did what he was told. He was amazed at the cooling sensation, as it mingled with his hotter skin. Very soothing indeed.

Even though Loki's arms were rather long he still couldn't reach around fully to his back. Tony bit his lip for a moment before taking the bottle from him. "I guess you can't reach your back." he said slightly awkwardly. "Do you want me to…?"

"…I suppose." Loki answered, just as awkward.

Tony put some of the gel on his back and rubbed it in with his hand. "Could we not tell the others about this." Loki asked,

"Yeah, I don't want the others to know I was massaging gel onto your back either." Tony said with a smirk.

Loki laughed slightly, "Well that too. But I don't want Thor knowing I got burnt. He'll never stop fretting over me."

"Sounds good. Just wear a shirt tomorrow and they won't even think of it."

Loki nodded. "Thank you, Tony."

"Don't mention it." he said giving him a smile, unaware of the pair of eyes watching them in the dark.

**Woohoo hey guys! So, I've been on vacation myself lately, that's why the updates been so spaced.. but that just means more ideas for newer chapters! Many of you guessed that Loki would be burnt so prizes for all of you! Haha :) You guys are all awesome! **

**Thanks! :) **


	13. Castles

**Chapter 13, Castles**

Tony and Loki had headed off to bed after Loki's burns were all taken care of. The god had a slight burn on his face but Tony had told him it would most likely fade to a tan by the morning. His back on the other hand would take a few days.

The two of them were careful not to wake up Rogers as they snuck into the tent. Tony removed his own shirt and snuggled into his sleeping bag as Loki laId uncomfortably on his stomach. Despite his best efforts, Tony's ruffling had disturbed Steve's sleep. Luckily for them though Steve just rolled over and muttered something along the lines of. "..that star spangled.. banner ..wave.. hrmph."

Tony had to suppress a laugh. Was Steve really singing the nation anthem in his sleep? Gosh that guy was american down to the core. With a bemused grin, Tony flopped over and tried to find some sleep himself.

xxx

Loki was the first to awake in the morning out of the boys. As he cam to his senses he gingerly reached over his shoulders to touch his back, finding it was still very sensitive. With a grimace he got up, his back cracking from being in one position all night. He rubbed at his eyes before grabbing a t shirt and tried to put it on without pain. He failed miserably.

With one final sigh he unzipped the tent and stepped out, nearly tripping as he stepped on a bottle someone left outside the tent. He cursed under his breath before looking down to see what this bottle was and why it was so close to their tent.

The label read 'Sun Screen SPF 60'. He looked at the canister quizzically for a moment, guessing that this was probably something that could be used to block out the suns rays. He picked it up and wondered why it would be outside. Then realizing that the only logical explanation was that Tony had probably got it for him and forgot to bring it in last night. He was the only one that knew he was burt anyways.

Satisfied with his deduction, Loki continued to inspect the can noticing the that the top of it had a weird little nozzle. 'Press Here' a little label read on the top. Loki raised an eyebrow and did as the instructions said, pressing the top down. He was suddenly assaulted by what smelled of rich chemicals and lotion spraying out of the top and right into his face.

He quickly let go of the button, coughing and trying to wave away the mist that had appeared around him._ By the Gods that tastes horrible. _He though to himself, although he could have guessed it was not recommended to be ingested. He opened his eyes to inspect the bottle again only to find that his eyes were stinging horribly. He cursed again, hoping that nobody had heard him. He quickly brought up his shirt to rub at his eyes, finally getting the awful burning sensation to go away.

Giving his head a good shake, he took a glance back to the bottle. 'Spray to skin only, keep out of eyes, mouth, and cuts.' He rolled his eyes, _too late for that. _He then turned the bottle around so the spray would be going to opposite direction. Not wanting to get another burn, he hesitantly pressed the top down again as more spray came out. He quickly sprayed his arms and legs before throwing the can away as the smell became overpowering again. He decided he didn't like sunscreen very much.

Loki (now covered in lotion) went to the supplies and grabbed a granola bar before going to sit by the water in solitude. He appreciated the peace and quiet of the morning but couldn't help but feel a tad bored without the constant chatting of the people around him. He finished his breakfast bar just as the others began emerging from their tents.

Tony smirked as he saw Loki sitting all by himself, gosh how this guy reminded him of a lost child sometimes. With a shake of his head and an amused smile he walked on down to see him.

"Good morning." Tony sung, as he came up beside him.

"Morning." Loki mumbled, his morning really wasn't all that _good_.

"Let me guess." Tony said subtly pointing to his own back.

Loki nodded, not really caring to explain the whole 'attack of the sunscreen' incident.

"Ah, it'll get better soon enough." Tony said giving him a smile.

Loki nodded and poked at the sand beside him, subconsciously arranging it in little piles.

Tony glanced down to his hands. "Hey what're you doing there?" he asked pointing to the little mounds Loki had been making.

"What?" Loki asked, glancing back down to the sand, "Oh, nothing." he said, quickly flattening out the sand to the way it was.

Tony smiled, "Ever made a sandcastle?"

Loki thought back to beaches on Asgard. He used to enjoy creating little towers and such in the sand as a child but that was a very long time ago. "Something of the sort." he said wiping his hands off on his shorts.

"Loki, I know what we're going to do today." Tony said grinning like a madman.

Loki slightly amused, watched as Tony ran back off to the beach to inform the others of his plan.

"Guys, we have to have a sandcastle building contest." Tony said a little too eagerly as he came to the group.

"Uh, what are we seven?" Natasha asked.

"What? Come on, there are artist our age that do competitions and stuff." he whined.

"He's telling the truth." Bruce added, "Some of their creations are mind blowing."

Natasha rolled her eyes. "Do as you please, I'm not participating."

"Fine, you can judge." Clint said, speaking up.

"You're going to make a castle out of sand." Natasha said, disbelieving.

"Why not." Clint said. "It could be fun."

"I just can't believe Coulson packed us sand toys." Natasha muttered.

xxx

An hour later when the sun started to shine again, they were ready for their contest. Tony decided he wanted to work with Loki to which Loki didn't really mind. Clint and Bruce were working together and Thor was going at it alone. Natasha brought a chair over to where they were all 'working' in the sand.

Tony and Loki had developed a fantastic plan. Loki would build all the structures and Tony would all the detail work, as he had steady hands. The complete opposite of Thor, who had created a huge tower with very little to no little details as he would just crush everything.

Tony was busy building a moat when he felt some sweat drip off of his brow. He wiped it off and glanced into the sky for a moment. It was starting to get very hot out again. He motioned for Loki to come closer to him so he could whisper.

Loki gave him a strange look but leaned over closer.

"Hey, it's getting pretty-"

"Ooh, secrets!" Clint teased as he saw Tony whispering to Loki. "Come here Bruce, let's think up of our master plan." he chuckled making Tony roll his eyes.

"Shut it Clint." Tony said leaning back down to Loki. "Anyways, it's getting pretty hot. Do you want to move into the shade or something? Don't want to get burnt again… I mean your skin seems to be pretty sensitive."

Loki gave Tony a strange look. "I put on the sunscreen you left outside last night."

Tony pulled back and gave Loki an even stranger look. "...I didn't leave any sunscreen outside." he said not as quiet as he should.

"..But, you were the only one that knew last night, right?" Loki asked feeling a little vulnerable.

Little did they know Natasha was laughing lightly in her chair beside the two.

"I thought so," Tony said just as confused. "I didn't tell anyone."

"You didn't tell anyone what?" Clint said, eavesdropping on their conversation.

Tony tried to stutter out a reply before he was interrupted, again. "Didn't tell anyone that Loki's sun burnt." Natasha piped in with a glorified smirk.

Loki and Tony's heads both shot up to look at her, "What? How..?"

"I saw you rubbing lotion on him last night, so I put the sunscreen beside your tent this morning."

Clint's eyebrow raised. "You guys were doing _what_?"

"Oh my gosh…" Tony sighed falling back on the sand, "It's not what it sounds like."

Thor then spoke up. "Loki, what has happened?"

"Nothing, Thor." Loki spat.

Thor looked up to Natasha. "What did you say was wrong with my brother?"

Loki rubbed his temple and let out a huge sigh. "Nothing is wrong with me."

"Really, shall we test that?" Natasha asked raising an eyebrow and moving to get up.

"Hey, hey chill guys seriously!" Tony shouted stopping Natasha. He looked over to Loki giving him a sympathetic look before telling the truth. "Loki got sun burt yesterday. He wanted to keep it a secret, but_ someone _had to blurt it out."

"Oh please." Natasha said, refusing to feel sorry.

"Whatever, can we just get back to the sandcastles?" Tony said, glancing over to Clint, Bruce and Thor.

"Yes, can we please?" Bruce asked, tired of the useless arguing.

Clint shrugged but not before getting a dirty look from Tony. He'd have to talk to Natasha about this later.

**Oh, awkward. Well how you guys liking it so far? Also a LOT of you are begging for the fangirls to come back and don't worry! They will be making another appearance. :) Also, some of you requested they play truth or dare at night xD Sure if you guys want! But I need some good truths or dares! For any of the characters! The best ones will deffs get a shoutout :) **

**Thanks again you guys for reviewing! :) **


	14. Lies

**Chapter 14, Lies**

The groups finished off their castles in a somewhat awkward silence. Clint kept eyeing Tony and Loki, while Thor sat staring in distaste at his castle. If you could even call it a castle anymore. It was more like a mountain to be honest. Bruce on the other hand had continued decorating his tower, trying to ignore the 'drama' that had occurred a few minutes ago. Natasha, well she was relaxing with her eyes closed, hoping to work on a tan.

Steve had come down to join them after cleaning up the camp a bit. He was a little put off at the mess they had made from trying to find the sand toys, and needed to rearrange things back to the tidy way they were. As he got closer to the beach, he noticed that none of them were talking, or at least teasing each other like they normally would be.

He sat down next to Natasha in the sand and glanced over the different groups. "Uh guys? Did I miss something?" he asked tentatively, getting a strange vibe from his friends.

"Nope." Tony answered simply. Not even looking up to acknowledge the captain.

Natasha sat up and tilted down her sunglasses to stare at Tony, a small smile on her lips. "Yeah, nothing at all." she said with just a hint of sarcasm.

Steve tilted his head somewhat puppy-like trying to asses the situation. "Um, okay." he said quietly, understanding that obviously something _had_ in fact happened.

Clint had gotten up, declaring that he had to find something to drink or he would pass out from the heat and walked up to camp.

Once the archer was out of earshot, Bruce looked over to Steve. "Hey Steve, wanna help put the final touches on the castle?" he asked, hoping that he wouldn't feel as awkward.

"Sure!" he said happily walking over to sit with him, glad to be included.

Steve carved out a door of sorts for Bruce's masterpiece and finally had to speak up. "So, can you tell me what happened earlier that has made everyone so quiet?"

Bruce chuckled lightly, "Well, to put it simply. Loki got sunburnt and wanted to keep it a secret. Although Natasha saw Tony putting stuff on him to sooth the burns last night and she told everyone about it. Clint of course made the situation sound worse than it was. And then Thor started asking questions. That brings us to now."

"Oh, I see." Steve said nodding his head. "It all seems a bit… pointless if you ask me. "

"Oh no, they're being _extremely _pointless right now."

Steve smiled in reply.

xxx

Not too later on, Tony stood up with a grunt, wiping the sand off his shorts. "Okay, we're done." he said, giving his castle one last final check.

It was more of a city than just a castle. Loki had made at least ten different buildings of assorted sizes all around a larger one with precise detailing on everything. Tony had insisted that all the buildings had proper stairs and windows, all beckoning to the palace they had created in the middle.

Loki had also gotten up to join him in admiring their work. Thor, Bruce, and Steve were all soon to follow.

"Time to judge." Tony chided, flicking some sand at Natasha with his toes.

"Agh Tony! Do I have to?" she asked, getting up with a groan.

"Yes, it's what we agreed to." Tony said crossing his arms.

Natasha sighed, and looked over at each teams design. "Thor wins." she said without hesitation.

"WHAT!" Came Clint's reply as he started running towards them, a bottle of water in hand. "His is just a mound of sand!"

Thor was in the midst of doing a celebratory fist pump when he saw Clint rushing towards them. Thor was about to protest when Clint started yelling again. "Did you even look at ours!" He glared at Natasha, as he came up to his and Bruce's 'work of art'.

Natasha was about to form a reply when Clint had accidentally stepped in the hole that they had crated beside their castle from all the sand. From his speed, he lost his balance and fell promptly on his face. Right into his own castle.

Everyone bursted out laughing. Well, everyone except Clint who was currently moaning in the remains of his castle.

"Yeah, I see it." Natasha said, "I'm sorry but Thor's has a bit more …structure than yours." she smirked, recovering from her laughter.

Clint groaned moving to get up, wincing slightly. Steve quickly jumped to his feet, extending out his hand to help.

"Easy, buddy." Steve coaxed as Clint stood up. "You good?"

"Yeah." Clint said, although he wasn't putting all his weight on his left foot.

"…You sure?" Steve asked, eyeing his ankle.

"Yeah fine." Clint said, moving to walk away when he went to step and nearly fell down again. "Okay maybe not."

Steve sighed and put Clint's arm around his shoulders. "Let's get you back to camp and check on that ankle."

Clint nodded begrudgingly and limped up to the chairs with Natasha, Thor, and Bruce following.

Tony snickered quietly once they left, "He had that coming." he said quietly to Loki.

Loki smiled and glanced back down to their castle. "Honestly though,_ Thor's_ over ours?"

Tony rolled his eyes. "Natasha was trying, and failing miserably to be funny. Ours is definitely the best." he said, holding up his hand for a high five.

Loki started quizzically at Tony's uplifted hand, looking back to his face with an eyebrow raised.

Tony stared just as confused back at Loki. "Oh don't tell me you guys don't do high fives in Asgard." he said keeping his hand raised.

"I'm sorry?" Loki tried, still unsure of what he was talking about.

Tony laughed to himself slightly. "Okay, just you know… slap your hand against mine." he said giving a demonstration clapping with his other hand. "Like this."

"…Why?"

Tony sighed shaking his head, "Uh, it's supposed to be like a celebratory thing… just do it."

Loki was still a little skeptical but, brought his hand up and high five'd Tony. Hearing the 'satisfying' smacking sound.

"See?" Tony prodded, trying to keep a straight face.

Loki shook his head and chuckled lightly, "I'll never understand you mortals."

Tony laughed, and patted Loki's shoulder, careful of his burn. "Come on. Let's go see how Clint's doing."

xxx

After some speculation, the Avengers had come to the conclusion that Clint had just rolled his ankle and would be fine in no time. Of course, there was no doubt that he would sill whine about it.

"I told you Clint, you'll be able to walk tomorrow." Natasha said for the third time, throwing some wood on the fire.

"I'm going to be stuck here." he mumbled. "While you guys are out having fun."

"Well why don't we do something that we can all do sitting down." Steve suggested. "It's going to get dark soon anyways."

"Yeah, but what should we do?" Tony asked taking a seat between Thor and Loki.

"A few nights back you and Barton had mentioned many activities. I heard one of them was truths or dares?"

"Oh no, we are not playing truth or dare." Tony said.

"Yeah, that was a joke." Clint added.

"Why not? You guys scared?" Natasha teased.

"Not scared, it's just… childish." Tony said finally.

"Says the men who had a sand castle competition this afternoon?"

"...Okay, fine we'll play." Clint said giving up.

Thor was still puzzled. "I am sorry for bringing it up?"

"No Thor, it's not your fault." Tony mumbled, giving Natasha a pointed look before looking back to the gods. "Okay so the rules, basically one person asks another if they want a truth or a dare. If they answer truth, you must ask them a question they have to answer truthfully. Usually it's an embarrassing question to make it fun. And for dare, you ask them to do something and they _have_ to do it."

"Anything?" Thor asked, a little scared of the boundaries of the game.

"Well, within reason. Don't want anyone dying tonight do we." Tony smirked.

xxx

Within a few minutes everyone was settled and ready to play.

"I call going first." Natasha said, ensuring her safety for the first round.

"Agh fine, go ahead." Tony said getting comfy in his seat.

"Hmm okay..." she said glancing around to the boys around her. Who would be her first victim? She finally locked eyes with Loki and a devilish grin appeared on her face.

"Loki, truth or dare?" she said with a smirk.

Loki rolled his eyes and sighed deeply, pretending to think over the two childish options. "Truth." he said confidently. He was the God of Lies for goodness sake, if he told a little fib they wouldn't even be able to tell.

"Have you ever kissed a girl?"

Loki scoffed. "Yes." he answered coolly. His gaze only faltering for a moment as he lied. Nothing they would catch onto. Especially since he could use the darkness to his advantage.

Natasha raised her eyebrows at him, and the others gave him a look of slight surprise. He smiled at being able to deceive them so easily… until Thor butted in and ruined it.

"Really? Who?" he asked in honest curiosity.

Loki felt his chest tighten. "You don't know of her." he said smoothly, he knew it wasn't the best of lies but it would suffice.

"I might, what was her name?" Thor pressed in a good natured way, he just wanted to know.

Loki cursed inside his head, maybe his silver tongue was turning to lead. He let his eyes flicker back to the group in front of him. "Er …I believe it is now someone else's turn."

"Loki's never kissed a girl." Clint teased getting a snicker from some of the group.

Loki rolled his eyes at them, about to speak up when Steve did first.

"Hey, guys knock it off." he said in his captain-y voice.

"Oh come on, you don't even find it vaguely funny that the evil god that tried to kill us, has never kissed a girl?" Clint said stifling his laughter.

"No, I never found bullying to be that funny." Steve said seriously.

"Still, I mean come on Loki." Clint teased.

"Okay, guys. It's not that funny." Tony said, glancing over to Loki who was slouched far into his chair. A light blush was on his cheeks, but Tony wouldn't tell anybody that.

"It's a little funny, I mean… Even Steve's kissed a girl." Natasha said with a smirk.

Bruce breathed out deeply, tired of the others childish antics. He closed his eyes before thinking over what he was going to do one last time. "Guys, seriously. Let's get on with the game, Natasha truth or dare."

Natasha looked over to him, surprised a little bit but shrugged anyways. "Fine," she chuckled, "dare." She glanced over to Loki with one last amused smirk before her face fell.

"I dare you to kiss Loki."

**WELL that's awkward. Hahaha truth or dare, always fun. xD your guys' reviews are completely awesome. I'm loving your requests and I'm sure I will put them in up coming chapters! If anyone else has anymore ideas for dares or truths, let me know! **

**Also, thank you to the wonderful '_Pep Potts'_ for her encouraging and lovely reviews/requests :) **

**Thanks again! :) **


	15. Truth or Dare

**Chapter 15, Truth or Dare**

_"I dare you to kiss Loki."_

Everyone gasped at Bruce's ballsy question, not believing that _Bruce_ _Banner _of all people would want to stoop this low. The group instantly looked over to see the two in questions expressions. The god and the assassin were known to be rather dangerous when provoked, and this was just the thing to do so.

Natasha's eyes had flown wide open and Loki's features had mirrored hers. "NO!" they both shouted out, glancing quickly to each other and then back to Bruce.

"You can't back out." he laughed. "It's a dare."

Natasha thought for a moment before smiling triumphantly. "I use a chicken." she said confidently, knowing this could save her.

"We never agreed on using chickens." Bruce countered, he had thought this over in his head. They were going to have to do it.

Tony had snuck a glance over to Loki in the meantime, noticing that his cheeks had turned completely red. He felt sorry for the guy but hey, maybe this was good for him. He couldn't help but let a small amused smirk settle on his lips as he watched the arguing continue on.

"I refuse." Loki stated simply, he wasn't having any of this.

Natasha looked to Loki who was sat right next to her and agreed. "I quit."

Bruce shook his head, "This is what you get for making fun of him." he chided with a grin.

"How is this fair?" Natasha asked, raising her hands in the air for effect.

"Once you kiss him, you won't be able to tease him about… well… not kissing anyone."

Loki sighed deeply and rubbed his hand across his forehead. He couldn't believe how often he got into awkward situations with the Avengers. He never should have agreed to play this stupid game.

Natasha huffed, and took a look up to her friends that circled them. Steve was looking almost as uncomfortable about the situation as Loki, and Tony seemed to think the whole thing was hilarious. As she came across Clint, she noticed he had a playful glint in his eye. Which was never a good sign.

Before flashing her a devilish grin, Clint began chanting quietly. "Do it, do it." was repeated over and over. He wanted nothing more than to see the tough as nails Natasha Romanoff embarrassed.

Natasha just rolled her eyes at his childishness. She was about to tell him to shut his trap before Thor's deep voice had began to join in.

"Do it. Do it. Do it!"

Loki shot daggers at his brother and sunk further back into his chair. In his attempt at avoiding eye contact with Natasha or Bruce, he had caught Tony's gaze again. Tony had just shrugged and offered him an goofy smile. Not really what he needed at the moment. Although he was glad that Tony hadn't decided to join in on the chant.

Bruce on the other hand _had_ joined in with Thor and Clint as their 'encouraging' shouts continued. Still attempting to edge the two on.

"Do it! Do it! Do it!"

Steve had given up hope on trying to stop the three from making an uncomfortable situation even more uncomfortable. He decided to just take a deep breath and watch the scene unfold before him. After all, it really wasn't that big of a deal. He didn't know why Thor, Bruce and Clint were so content on making it happen.

Back on the other side of the circle Natasha let out a huge sigh. Honestly, she didn't think kissing was something to get so excited over. She'd had to kiss many many while working undercover, meaningless kisses were nothing new to her. And, if she did do it, her supposed to be friends would finally shut the hell up. They only thing stopping her was that well, it was Loki. The rather awkward god who had tried to take over the world and called her a mewling quim. He wasn't exactly on the top of her list of people she adored at the moment.

She took one last awkward look towards Loki, who really didn't want to meet her eyes. She had to smirk, loving being in the more dominant position here. Raising an eyebrow she questioned the god who just gave a wide eyed blank stare in response.

"DO IT! DO IT! DO IT!" The yelling was becoming harder and harder to block out.

Natasha was about to lose it. She knew the only way she could get them to shut up would be to walk over there and break each one of their necks, or to kiss Loki. She decided that she might as well chose the latter, it was less effort anyways.

In one swift motion she was leaning over her chair so she was closer to the god. The circle nearly died from anticipation from the action. Natasha had to hold back her smirk at the nearly cowering Loki as she neared closer to him, his expression was priceless. Before he had the chance to move away, she had quickly pressed her lips against his, a cheer erupting from the 'crowd'.

It only lasted a second, and Natasha had pulled back before Loki had even come to his senses. Clint and Thor whooped at the two and Bruce sat back with a satisfied smile. Tony and Steve shared amused smiles, both shaking their heads at their friends. Natasha smirked at the response they got and Loki tried not to combust under all of their gazes.

"So, Loki's kissed a girl now. Who would have thought." Clint said as they all calmed down, getting a glare from said god.

"At least there will be no more teasing." Bruce said getting a firm nod from Steve.

"I don't know about that…" Clint started. "Natasha_ kissed _Loki." he said hoping to get a good reaction from the guys.

Surprisingly Loki had spoken up. "You can stop now." he said, "We all know you're just jealous." With than he gave the archer a dangerous smile, his confidence coming back in waves.

"What did you say to me?" Clint said leaning forward in his chair clenching his fists.

"Oh you heard _exactly_ what he said." Tony smiled, Clint needed to be put in his place sometimes.

Clint huffed not thinking that he would get teamed up on. "Whatever," he said crossing his arms and looking to Natasha who just laughed. _Well that backfired_, he thought to himself.

"Alright so who's next?" Steve asked not wanting more arguments to happen.

"I dare Clint to jump in the lake." Tony said without missing a beat.

"Oh come on!" Clint whined. "My ankle still hurts, I can't walk down there."

Tony just smirked. "We've got some strong guys here. I'm sure they could carry you easily." he said motioning to Steve and Thor.

"No way." Clint said furiously shaking his head. "Not happening."

Tony motioned for Thor to get up, who was enjoying this game of truths and dares very much so.

Clint quickly jumped out of his chair, wincing at his ankle slightly. "No no no, hold on." he said. "Don't you dare touch me."

Thor smiled brightly ignoring his weak efforts at defence and went to pick him up wedding style.

"Go get em Thor." Tony laughed as Clint nearly squeaked as he was lifted off the ground.

Clint finally gave up trying to squirm out of the thunderous gods hold and just let it happen. He had it coming anyways, he should have known not to mess with Natasha, or Loki for that matter.

The rest of the group had gotten out of their chairs to watch Thor carry Clint to the edge of the beach where it started to get deeper.

"I'm sorry friend, but a dare is a dare." Thor said before dropping him into the freezing water.

There was a yelp and a splash that was soon followed my howls of laughter.

**Oh gosh, hello. Sorry about that, I hope this chapter was alright… didn't flow as easily at some parts for some reason. Oh well, hopefully I will update much faster now on. I've been vacationing lately but I'm home again. I know this one was short but you all were messaging me to update on the cliffhanger xD **

**Also, thanks to my lovely reviewers :) You all really make my day! **


	16. The Stars

**Chapter 17, The Stars**

"GET ME OUT OF HERE!" Clint screamed as the icy water engulfed him.

Natasha nearly fell over from laughing so hard, and the others were just as bad.

"I'm sure you can tough out a few more seconds." Tony said smirking down to Clint.

"AH!" he gasped. "Something touched my foot!"

That just riled up the gang even more. They were all roaring with more laughter trying to stay upright from their wheezing. Even Steve had joined in on the laughter before he started feeling guilty.

"Okay let's get him out." the captain smiled, "He's had enough."

Clint nodded his head furiously and reached out for Steve's outstretched had eagerly. The super soldier pulled him up with ease and made sure that he was steady enough to stand on his ankle.

"Do you want help walking up?" Steve asked good-naturedly.

"No, no one touch me." Clint said shakily. "I refuse to be manhandled again."

"Er, okay. If you're sure." Steve said shrugging and walking back up the camp with the others, leaving Clint to hobble up the beach at his own painstakingly slow pace.

xxx

Once they had_ all _gotten back to their seats, and Clint had gotten a towel, they started up the game again.

"Okay, it's definitely my turn now." Clint said using the towel to dry off his hair.

"Go for it." Tony teased, knowing that Clint would want payback.

He smirked, "Alright, Tony truth or dare?"

"Dare." Tony said, he didn't want to think of the kind of questions Clint's mind could have created for him.

Clint had to think for a moment, he totally thought Tony would chose truth. "Um okay, I dare you…"_ think think think. _He glanced between Tony and Loki, and smirked to himself. "Uh, I dare you to wear Loki's helmet for the rest of the night."

Tony stared at Clint raising an eyebrow. "Really." he said, it was more of a statement than a question.

Clint nodded, knowing his dare was lame compared to the others that entered his mind. At least with this dare Tony wouldn't try to suffocate him in his sleep.

Tony shrugged, "Alright then…" he said awkwardly, glancing towards Loki.

Loki tried to stay calm, no one but him was ever allowed to wear the helmet. No one, Thor wasn't allowed to _touch_ it let alone wear it. "Does he have to?" Loki questioned, trying his best to sound more bored than upset.

"Yes. As stated before, a dare is a dare." Clint said triumphantly, glad that his dare got some sort of response.

Loki glanced down, about to reach around to take off his helmet. At least it was Tony who was wearing it. He supposed he could have been in a worse situation if say, Bruce was selected to wear it for the night. _What if he exploded into that green monster again? That would surely bend the metal. _he thought to himself.

Loki had taken off his helmet and carefully passed it to Tony who gave him half a smile. Loki ruffled his own hair and sat back.

Tony glanced to Clint and gave him a weird look before tentatively placing the helmet atop his head. A smile soon erupted on the mans face.

"Woah, I feel powerful with this on." Tony said smiling with childish glee. "I can see how you got the idea to take over the world while wearing this." he smirked giving Loki a friendly pat on the shoulder. Tony looked around the group and gave them his best evil glare. "How do I look?" he smirked, relaxing back in his chair.

The group laughed at him and Loki even had to smile slightly.

"You look ridiculous." Clint joked, being sure to give Loki an unnessessary pointed look after.

Tony blew off the remark with a wave of his hand. "Someone take my picture. I want to see this."

Clint laughed and reached in the bag beside him for his phone. "Give us a sneer for the camera."

Tony did as he was told and Clint took the photo, passing over his phone for him to see the picture. "Wow." Tony mumbled, pleased with the result. "I will always look good in gold." he smirked. "Even if it's gold _antlers_." he said giving Loki a smile.

Loki managed a smirk and a light shake of his head. "_They're horns._" he muttered under his breath, although no one seemed to hear him.

"Alright, so who's next?" Tony said looking around the circle. "Steve, you got a dare for anyone?"

"No, someone else can take my turn." he said, not really into the whole unpleasant theme of the game.

"Can I go again?" Natasha asked, a little too eager for comfort.

"Uh, sure I guess." Tony said, only slightly frightened about what she had in mind.

"Okay, Thor truth or dare?" she smiled.

Thor had to think for a moment, (a rare thing, Loki was sure to inform them of) he really didn't want to kiss anyone, jump in the lake, or anything of that nature. So he chose the easy way out. "Truth, I suppose."

Natasha nodded, "Alright, alright. Well… what's the most embarrassing thing you can tell us about Loki?"

Loki nearly shot out of his seat. Thor was the only person in the universe that could possibly know things like that. They were brothers for goodness sake. Adoptive or not, they still basically spent their whole lives growing up together. He really did not want anybody_ else _knowing of his secrets. Thor knowing of them was bad enough.

Loki immediately shot his brother daggers, a warning of course. The second Thor was to tell any of his secrets he had no problem jumping over to his seat and strangling him.

"Oh um well." Thor started awkwardly. "I do not wish to embarrass my brother in front of all of you."

Loki's breathing calmed down just a tad. _Good, good, _he thought, almost cracking a smile.

"Oh come on, there's gotta be something you can tell us." Clint said, edging him on.

Loki's head shot over to Barton's direction. "I can assure you there is nothing he can tell you." the God of Mischief lied, Clint would not ruin this for him.

"There's always something." Bruce said smiling cockily.

Loki shook his head, _no, Thor wouldn't. Would he?_

Thor looked over to Loki apologetically. "Well, if I must… there was this one time with the horses-"

Loki had literally jumped from his chair and tackled Thor to the ground. "Don't you dare say another word!" he threatened, his hand dangerously close to his brothers neck.

The group all glanced to each other, confused as to why the situation escalated so quickly.

Thor knew he could easily knock Loki off of him but decided not to provoke him anymore. "…Okay, I will not, I promise you." he said calmly, raising his hands in surrender.

Loki gave him a dangerous look, but knew that Thor was usually true to his word. He loosened his hold on his brother and slowly stared to get up. "They were all rumours." he muttered, stalking back to his chair with a huff.

Tony, who was still rather dumbfounded about the whole situation looked over to Loki. "Uhm… what was all that about?" he said incredulously.

Loki just shook his head, trying to regulate his breathing.

"Okay… well I think right about now is a good time to end the game." Bruce said, awkwardly standing up. "We can continue another time, I think we all could use some sleep."

"I agree." Steve said.

"Yeah, me too." Clint added. Natasha nodded as well, helping him up.

"Alright, goodnight then." Tony said sarcastically, hating how early everyone always went to bed.

They all bid their goodnights and left Tony Loki and Thor sitting in an awkward silence.

Thor went to get up but made his way over to Loki first.

"Brother, I did not mean to embarrass you. I was only trying to follow the rules." he said apologetically.

"Goodnight, Thor." Loki said bitterly, although it could have been a lot more harsh if he had wanted.

Thor sighed, guessing that was the best he was going to get. "Goodnight," he said, and nodded to Tony who lazily saluted back.

As Tony finally heard the last tent zipper zip up, he moved to face Loki.

"So, horses then?" he smirked, a playful glint in his eye.

"Enough." Loki sighed.

"Okay, jeez only kidding." Tony said continuing to smirk.

"May I have my helmet back?" Loki asked after a moment of silence.

"I don't know." Tony teased. "I'm starting to like it."

"You had no problem insulting it earlier on." Loki mumbled, holding out his hand for the helmet.

Tony complied and took it off, giving it to the rightful owner. "Yeah, well. I understand why you like it so much now." he said smiling.

Loki rolled his eyes, putting the helmet back on his head.

As Loki was preoccupied Tony lolled his head back, looking up to the night sky. The stars catching his attention. "So, where's Asgard from here?" he asked, motioning to the sky with his hand.

Loki raised his eyebrows and glanced up for a moment, laughing slightly to himself. "Your midgardian sky is pathetic. But I do believe it would be in this direction." he teased, pointing off to the left.

"That's the big dipper." Tony said, "Well, Ursa Major to be precise."

Loki frowned and laughed lightly to himself. "You humans name your constellations after… tupperware?"

Tony laughed slightly, "No, see it kinda looks like a cup- oh never mind."

"No, no I want to know."

"Oh, alright then." Tony said, moving over so he was closer to him. "See here… is the handle." he said pointing up to the left most star.

"Hmm.. I don't see it." Loki said squinting into the sky.

"Follow my finger." he ordered. "I'm pointing right at it."

"Are you sure you are not making this up?" Loki asked giving the man a questioning stare.

"I swear, here look." Tony said grabbing Loki's closest hand and pointing to the sky with it. "See now?"

Loki gave him an odd look but followed his and Tony's hand nonetheless. He finally noticed the brighter star Tony was referring to. "Ah, yes I see it." he said quietly.

"Good, now here is the handle… leading into the cup." Tony explained, mapping Loki's finger over the imaginary lines in the sky with his hand.

"It does look quite a bit like a ladle." Loki commented, taking his eyes off the sky to meet with Tony's.

"Thank you, see us _mortals_ aren't all that weird." Tony joked.

"Well, that is debatable." Loki said smiling, withdrawing his hand from the other mans.

**Hey! Well, since last chapter was pretty short I thought I'd give ya this one! :0 It basically wrote it's self so I hope you guys like it! ;) **

**Thanks! :) **


	17. Thunder Buddies

**Chapter 17, Thunder Buddies**

Tony and Loki had sat out star gazing for a while, comparing the similarities and differences between each others skies. Loki was completely baffled at how many different gatherings of stars humans had seemed to map out to make animals and such.

Tony had just finished his explanation on Orion's belt when the wind started to pick up. "It's getting a little chilly out." he said as a shiver ran down his spine and tried to move closer to the fire.

"Really?" Loki asked raising an eyebrow. "I hadn't noticed."

Tony smirked and rolled his eyes. "Frost Giant. Right."

Loki smirked and glanced back up. "It looks as though we may get a bit more of cold weather."

Tony frowned and looked up to the sky again, noticing some darker clouds that started to form in the distance. "That doesn't look good."

Loki nodded, letting out an unexpected yawn and covering his face immediately.

"Tired?" Tony asked, switching his gaze from the sky over to the God beside him.

"A bit, I suppose. We have been out here for a while." he replied.

"Yeah, time flies." Tony said rubbing the back of his neck, when suddenly a big gust of wind came and blew the fire out, leaving them in complete darkness. "...Yeah, I guess it's a perfect time to head in then." Tony laughed, getting up from his chair.

Loki laughed slightly as well, "Yeah, seems to be." he said standing up and stumbling right into Tony's back with an "Oof."

"Woah watch yourself." Tony teased, turning around.

"Sorry, I have the disadvantage of not having a light embedded in my chest."

Tony scoffed jokingly, "I wouldn't exactly call it a disadvantage. Although it is pretty handy in situations like this."

Loki smiled slightly and felt a drip of water hit his nose. He wiped it off and glanced up to the sky where a few more drops hit him. The clouds from before were now right above of them as it started to rain.

"Jeez that came quickly." Tony said, as the rain started to fall more steadily. "Let's go, quick."

Tony and Loki ran their way up to the tent trying to avoid getting soaked from the occurring downpour and not trip in the dark. They had made it to their destination in just enough time before the rain began to come down harder.

They would have made it into their tent dry if Tony hadn't fumbled with the zipper.

"Stark! We're getting drenched!" Loki exclaimed in frustration as he could feel the back of his shirt sticking to him.

"I'm trying! It's stuck!" Tony yelled back, equally aggravated. As much as he pulled, the zipper just wouldn't budge.

Loki huffed and pushed Stark's hands out of the way, pulling on the zipper himself.

"See, it's stuck-" Tony began, as Loki pulled and unzipped the tent, quickly crawling in.

Tony sighed and clambered in the tent after him, closing it up and breathing out in relief.

Loki gave him an unimpressed look and Tony rolled his eyes. He glanced over to Steve who had some how managed to stay asleep after all their yelling.

"I can't believe he didn't hear us." Tony mentioned, shaking some of the water out of his hair in a doglike fashion.

Loki grimaced as some of the water droplets hit him, "…Well he does have rather odd sleeping patterns. He's either completely restless or imitating death."

Tony chuckled, "Yeah well, can you blame him?"

Loki was silent in his agreement. Barton had informed him of the super solider's back story when he was under his command.

Tony yawned interrupting his thoughts. "Well, I'm soaked and tired." he said struggling to take off his shirt.

Loki decided getting out of his far from dry clothes was a good idea too. He took off his helmet and wiped off some of the water, looking at his reflection in the gold. He noticed that the light burn on his face had in fact turned to a tan. Only very slightly though, he was still the palest out of all of them there.

He ran a hand quickly through his hair and put his helmet back down in his little corner. His damp shirt was being pulled off and thrown into the corner as well, it would have to dry tomorrow. He got up from his spot and went over to the bag of clothes Steve had given him from Shield.

Tony had just finished pulling a new shirt, making the lighting in the room dim. He snuggled into his sleeping bag and faced Steve's direction in the almost darkness. "I'm going to try and sleep, goodnight." he yawned to Loki.

Loki ignored him and sighed in being unsuccessful in his search for a new shirt, although he could have sworn there was another in the bag. All he could find were sweatpants and shaving supplies. He didn't even need to shave, another thing to be ridiculed about.

"Stark, do you mind shining your light over here?" he asked with another exasperated sigh. "I'm having trouble finding another shirt."

"Just put on one of mine." Tony said, too cozy to get up again.

Loki frowned. "I'd rather not."

"Fine by me, sleep without a shirt then."

Loki huffed, rolling his eyes at Tony's back. As much as he would like to sleep shirtless he hated the feel of being vulnerable. Even if it was a thing piece of fabric in the way, it made him feel better.

Loki ruffled through the Shield bag once more before he looked over to Tony's. He could see a variety of shirts all folded neatly, obviously packed by someone else. They were too temping. With one last look down to his own exposed chest he gave in. "Is any shirt fine?" he asked.

"Yeah. Take your pick." Tony mumbled into his pillow.

Loki grabbed the first shirt off the top and tried to make out the word on the front. _AC/DC_ _an odd assortment of letters. Is that not a type of Midgardian electric current?_ He thought to himself, _mortals are odd._

Loki thumbed the fabric of the shirt, instantly being able to tell it was of a higher quality material than the shirt Shield gave him. He quickly put it on and tried to ignore the fact that it smelled like Tony.

Loki laid back on his sleeping bag and pulled the cover over him trying to get comfortable, which was easier than usual. Tony's shirt was _soft_, much more suitable for a prince... Or a king, he thought to himself with a smile.

Tony had fallen asleep by the time Loki had gotten himself settled. The constant drumming of the rain drops hitting the tent was a soothing rhythm and Loki had soon found sleep himself not long after.

It continued to rain into the hours of the night and the wind continued to blow. Darker clouds had soon formed over top the sleeping super heroes. All oblivious to the fact that a storm was brewing overhead.

xxx

Natasha had heard the wind blowing against her tent earlier and had put in her headphones in advance, not wanting her slumber to be interrupted by the weather.

The boys in Thor's tent were all the heavy sleepers, and would of just had trouble distinguishing the sounds outside from Thor's snoring.

Back in Tony's tent, Steve was still out cold, not moving from his position on his stomach and breathing steadily.

Tony and Loki were also asleep. Although they were't the heaviest of sleepers…

The wind began to pick up and the rains drumming on the tent started to become more of an attack. Tony and Loki were still dead to the world though, the rains change in pattern unable to disrupt their dreaming.

It was a whole different story with thunder though.

BOOM!

The sound rang out like a gun shot in the night, waking both Tony and Loki up with a start. Loki had jumped upright into a sitting position, his eyes going wide. Tony on the other hand had stayed laying down.

Tony glanced over to Steve who seemed to not hear anything and wondered if he had imagined the sound. He flipped over to his other side and saw Loki sitting up, staring right at him with wide eyes. _Guess not._

"Mm what? Scared of a little thunder?" Tony quipped with a lazy smile, although it came out as more of a mumble as he tried to go back to sleep.

Loki shook his head, relaxing a bit. "Of course not-"

BOOM!

Another hit crackled throughout the sky, making Loki jump in his seat.

Tony laughed lightly and got up on one elbow, "Yeah, whatever you say."

Loki glared at him but stayed in his position, clenching his sleeping bag to his chest.

"Shouldn't you be used to thunder, with Thor and all?" Tony asked, looking up to him from the ground.

"I said, I wasn't scared of it, Stark." he jabbed back with a harsh tone.

"Yeah, well the way you jump every time says something a little different." Tony said, raising an eyebrow.

Another boom echoed out, making Loki flinch.

"See what I mean?" Tony said trying not to laugh.

Loki continued to glare at him.

After a moment, all laughter aside, Tony decided to speak up. "It's okay you know." he said. "I don't like it that much either."

Loki gave him an odd look and released his death grip on his covers slightly.

"I just don't get it. Thor's the _God of Thunder_, and you grew up with him…"

"Thor rarely had time to use his_ powers_ around me. I've never been very fond of the… sound."

A flash of lightning lit up the tent, followed by another thunderous boom.

Loki bit the inside of his cheek, trying to pretend it didn't bother him, although Tony noticed it clearly did. Tony gave him a sad smile and started to sit up.

"What are you doing?" Loki asked knitting his eyebrows together.

Tony shuffled around and put his pillow against the back of the tent. "I'm going to sit up with you, as it seems we're both not going to be getting any sleep."

"There's not enough room for both of us to sit up." Loki protested. "Rogers is taking all the space."

Steve was just a bit more diagonal in his space than usual. "Ah, let him sleep. There's lot's of room." Tony said moving up into a sitting position.

Loki rolled his eyes and watched Stark as he got himself settled. When Tony was finally finished moving he found there really wasn't as much room as he first thought, and as a result of that their shoulders were touching.

Loki gave him a knowing look and glanced down to their shoulders. "I told you-"

"Yeah yeah, whatever, the tent is too small."

Loki smirked at being right, but it was soon replaced with a look of fear when another flash of lightning came, followed by a crash of thunder not too long after.

Tony saw his features drop and nudged him slightly, "You know how to tell how close a storm is here on Midgard, without technology?"

Loki frowned and shook his head.

"You can count how many seconds are between the lightning and the thunder, it gives you a rough idea of how many miles there are between us and the storm."

Loki raised an eyebrow but nodded nonetheless.

"Next time we see lightning I'll show you."

_Why would anyone want to know how close a storm was? _Loki thought to himself. _Imagining it far away is much more reassuring than actually knowing the distance. _The God decided to look uninterested giving Tony a bored look to mask his fear, something he'd come to master over the years.

"In all honesty, this sounds rather childish." Loki said, hoping to get out of it.

Tony frowned. "Being afraid of thunder is rather childish!" he retorted, although he regretted it instantly as he saw Loki's eyes drop down to his lap.

_Great. _

Tony nudged his shoulder, "Hey, I didn't mean that."

"Don't touch me." Loki said, keeping his gaze down.

Tony sighed, "Loki I'm sorry. You insulted science, so I got protective."

Loki rolled his eyes and stayed silent, until there was a flash of lightning, making his head not-so-subtly shoot up.

Tony just simply brought up his hand and started counting the seconds on his fingers. As much as Loki wanted to be angry, he couldn't help but feel somewhat intrigued.

Tony had gotten to nine seconds before a boom echoed out. Smiling, Tony put his hand down and stayed quiet, keeping the results to himself.

Loki sighed, as much as he didn't want to know how close the storm was, his curiosity took the better of him. "Nine. What does nine tell us?" he asked quietly.

Tony smirked, glad that Loki didn't seem to be too upset_. _"Every five seconds is around one mile away, so the storm's about two miles from us. Which is a lot farther than before." Tony said with a reassuring smile.

Loki nodded, pleased to know the storm was moving away, and that maybe he could get some sleep after all.

**Hey you guys! Sorry for such the long wait, all my sports are starting up soon so I've had conditioning and practices like crazy.**

**ANYWAYS, the story.**

**Yes? No? Maybe so? Let me know what you think! Reviewers will get hugs from Tony! ;) **

**Thanks! :)**

**Also, almost at 200 reviews! Every single review has meant so much to me, you guys really are the best! :) **


	18. Smiles

**Chapter 18, Smiles**

Tony and Loki had spent the rest of the night sitting up in the tent, counting the seconds between thunder and lightning strikes, and betting whether Steve would wake up. Not before long, the worst of the storm had passed over them and the only sound that could be heard was the rain hitting the tent.

Somewhere along in the night Loki had shut his eyes, deciding that the storm was far enough away to not be anxious. He battled long enough to keep them open, but in the end sleep had won and his eyes reluctantly closed.

Tony had stayed awake, mostly for Loki's sake. He didn't want Loki having a heart attack from an unexpected crash of thunder, and forced himself to stay awake. They had sat up awake together for a little while before Tony felt the God beside him shift slightly. Thinking it was nothing and too tired to turn his head, he was surprised at the sudden weight he felt on his shoulder. Sleepily, he looked over and saw Loki's head slumped right against him. He smirked to himself slightly thinking how Loki would have killed him if he were in his position right now. Well, maybe not kill. He would have at least shoved him with some muttering of 'Get off me, Stark.' Tony laughed lightly to himself, he needed to fix this.

Although Tony had all the intentions of pushing Loki away, he found himself starting to zone out with Loki still sleeping against him. He was nearly hypnotized by just listening to the rain, but was brought back to consciousness as his own head started to lull. He shook himself slightly and brought his attention back to the sleeping God. Tony _needed_ to sleep before he collapsed, and he really didn't want to face the consequences of waking up next to Loki again. He sighed, It was too late for this.

He gingerly reached out and tried to move Loki away from him. Tried, was the key word there, Loki was heavy and Tony ended up having to grab Loki's shoulders and ease him down.

Finally Tony was able to get comfortable himself. He snuggled into his sleeping bag, completely removing the light from the tent. He closed his eyes, ready for sleep to take him over. He turned over so he was facing Steve, and breathed out, about to completely pass out. Until an arm wrapped around him. He frowned, and reached out for it, feeling Loki's hand. _Oh come on. _he thought to himself, taking the hand and removing it from his side. He huffed, and slumped back down, thankfully finding sleep this time, without anyone touching him.

Or so he thought.

xxx

The next morning Loki awoke and slowly cracked open his eyes, glad to find that the sun had started to shine, all remnants of the storm from last night gone. He yawned, his senses coming back to him with each second, when he noticed something odd. His arms weren't at their usual spot by his side, but around the man next to him. He opened up his eyes fully, finding himself once again right next to Tony's side, although he was the one with the arm around Tony. He pulled his arm back quickly, and brought it to his own chest, feeling embarrassed that he had done that during his sleep. He cursed the dimensions of the tent, the only possible reason how he could have ended up in such a position.

He calmed down a bit, after thinking that no one had come into their tent this morning to wake them up. No one had saw anything. He laughed to himself and moved to sit up. As long as no one else knew of this, it was not a matter to worry about. He yawned again and stretched out his arms, feeling a bit of a kink in his neck. He turned his head to each side to see if he could stretch it out when his eyes widened as he saw the other side of the tent. The Captain was gone.

He flopped back down onto his sleeping bag, _"Why, Steve…_" he mumbled quietly, although it seemed to wake up Tony anyways.

"Huh- Wha?" Tony said, blinking rapidly at the God beside him.

Loki stayed silent, and didn't answer him, but got up with a groan. He really wanting to face the Avengers outside, as Steve would have obviously told the others of what he saw this morning. Including Thor. He could easily lie, but being known as a 'liesmith', doesn't always help in these situations.

Besides the nagging feeling of not wanting to get out and be ridiculed for a stupid sleeping position, Loki exited the tent, running a hand throughout his hair, and leaving a baffled Tony still half asleep inside.

Loki reluctantly walked over to the group of people who were sitting around in the circle with the food.

"Loki, did you hear the thunder last night?!" Thor asked excitedly as Loki grabbed a granola bar from one of the bags.

Loki merely nodded, and took a seat next to Steve, who smiled. Loki looked away awkwardly.

"It was pretty intense for a little while." Natasha added, "I could hear it over my music." she added.

Loki kept a calm face, a little confused as to why they hadn't brought up the sleeping issue yet. This wasn't like them.

"Loki?" Clint started. _Maybe I thought too soon. _"Why are you wearing one of Tony's shirts?" he laughed, making everyone else crane their necks to look at him.

That wasn't what he was expecting. Loki looked down himself and cursed, how could he have forgotten? "We were stuck in the rain, as Tony seems to be incapable of unzipping tents, and my shirt got wet, I didn't exactly have any others." he said smoothly, as he didn't even need to lie this time.

"Didn't Shield give you a bag or something?" Clint pressed, still thinking it was a little weird.

"Yes, but it seemed to just be jammed packed with 'sweat pants' as you call them." he mumbled.

Clint raised a curious eyebrow, but stopped once he saw Tony walk down.

_Oh, they wanted Stark to be here for the teasing as well, that explains it. _Loki thought to himself, although he was mistaken.

"Hey guys, sleep well last night?" Tony asked everyone with a smirk, as he grabbed something to eat.

Everyone nodded, except for Thor who nodded especially enthusiastically.

Tony rolled his eyes at the goof and sat down next to Loki with a bemused smile. To which Loki managed some sort of smirk.

"So, plans for the day anyone?" Tony asked them.

"I'd kind of like to explore the rest of the lake, we haven't really gone out too far to the others side." Bruce recommended.

"I too would like to see the rest of this lake." Thor added.

"Uhm. I don't know if that's really a good idea…" Tony said, thinking back to the encounter with the whole 'Loki's Army' thing .

Loki smirked, but covered it up by bringing his fingers up to his lips.

"How does it sound like a bad idea…?" Clint asked. "Did you guys see something over there with the jet ski a while back?"

"Uhm, yeah. Something alright." Tony said, furrowing his eyebrows.

"…What was it?" Natasha asked curiously.

Tony sighed, "The other side is full of girls."

Clint's mouth turned into a huge grin. "And why aren't we over there now?" he asked, getting a smack from Natasha in return.

"They, er… they're those 'fangirls'." Tony mumbled, and Loki had to hold back his laugh.

"So, what's wrong with seeing a few fans?" Steve asked good-naturedly.

Tony bit his lip, "They, seem to be uh-"

"Obsessed with me." Loki finished with an arrogant smirk.

Everyone started to laugh. "What? You're kidding!" Clint said recovering from his laughter.

Loki frowned. "Why is that so hard to believe?"

"Uh, maybe because you tried to take over the world? And I don't know, I didn't think girls liked the whole 'Rock of Ages' hair." Clint teased.

"Clint. It happened." Tony said, "The girls, they went crazy when they saw him. I was surprised, I mean. I was there too." he added with a cocky wave of his eyebrows.

Clint frowned, "I won't believe it till I see it."

Tony sighed, "Alright then, do you really want to go over there?" he asked the group.

They all nodded, wanting to see how Loki of all people would have fans. Fans that were girls.

Tony sighed, if they wanted to see it, then so be it. "Fine, we'll go. Get ready, ship leaves in thirty."

Everyone shrugged and got up, retreating to their tents to pack for this little adventure to the other side of the lake.

xxx

Steve and Loki got into the tent, while Tony decided to get the boat all ready.

Loki remembered earlier, and he guessed that Steve hadn't told anyone what he saw in the morning. He decided that he really didn't mind Captain Rogers too much. He always seemed to be willing to help out.

Loki turned to face him, and gave him a rare smile, a thank you of sorts. Steve smiled back, and continued on to pack some things for their trip, pretending as if nothing had happened.

**Hey, okay so question. I was thinking of maybe ending this story in a little while, as the summer is ending in real life for me. But, I was thinking of having a sequel, something along the lines of "A Winter With Loki" eh? would anyone be up for that? I could just keep on writing this one, but the summers gotta end some time right? Well, it's up to you guys! Tell me what you like haha, I won't be giving up writing these guys anytime soon, so no worries there. :) Thanks! **


	19. The Fangirls

**Chapter 19, The Fangirls**

The heroes were all excited to see this 'Fangirl Army' that was supposed to be awaiting them on the other side as they set out on their newest adventure across the lake. Each had gotten themselves settled in the back of the boat, with their preferred seats and soon enough they were nearing their destination.

Tony was a tad hesitant once they had gotten closer to the shore line. The pumping bass music could be heard again and the dots of people could just barely be seen.

"What is that racket?" Steve asked, moving from his seat to the edge of the boat for a better look.

"That's how music sounds these days." Clint answered with a shrug.

"How is that music?" Steve pressed, frowning and straining to understand.

Clint just laughed, "You'll get used to it bud."

As they got a bit closer, Tony stopped and turned to face everybody. "Okay, so we're just going to drive by, give a few waves, give a few smiles, and then leave. Alright?"

"We aren't going to meet them?" Steve asked, oblivious to the dangers of fans.

"I don't know if it's really the best idea…" Tony protested.

"Oh come on, I want to meet a few fans." Clint butted in.

"Yes. I would like to see the girls as well." Thor inputted.

Tony gave them both a weird look before glancing over to Loki who shrugged, knowing his answer wouldn't matter anyways.

"Natasha? Bruce?" Tony called out, hoping to get some back up here.

"It could be interesting." Bruce said, "They couldn't really do any harm. I mean, we are the avengers…"

"Tony just can't stand not being the center of attention." Natasha teased.

"Fine, know what? Let's go meet them. But if any of you get hurt, it's not my fault." Tony said, not wanting to argue over this any longer. He started up the boat again and began driving closer.

The team shared amused smiles as the girls could be seen, and apparently they had been spotted by the girls. They had all stopped doing what they were doing to look at the boat coming towards them.

Screams started erupting as the girls saw who was on said boat, and that that same boat was coming to dock on their shore.

They started running towards the boat at full speed with those of them that hadn't broken out into tears or fainted making it to the front easily.

"SEE WHAT I MEAN?" Tony yelled over the girls screams as he tried to dock the boat without being strangled.

Steve shared a scared look with Loki in the back of the boat, unsure if this was the best idea after all.

"Girls please stop yelling!" Tony shouted, as he finished tying the boat up, the fastest runners surrounding him already.

They seized their screaming as they watched the rest of the avengers assemble behind him. Loki stayed in the boat hiding, deciding that he would get out once everything calmed down a little to talk to his soldiers.

The avengers made their way onto the beach, as the girls continued to swarm them. A few started being a little grabby and had managed to pull them into different groups. Tony having it the worst so far as most of his group kept trying to touch his face, and ask 'if the goatee was real'. He assured them it was, and batted away their hands, as he was able to get them to laugh, and settled into his regular showboating self.

Steve and Bruce on the other hand were being extremely awkward around their fans, and blushing at every comment about Steve's apparent perfect buttocks, and Bruce's abilities to button up shirts. They had both been bombarded with marriage proposals by at least ten different girls each, and had to politely decline them all, just as they had both declined knowing why exactly why the _Star Spangled Banner_ was so funny.

Natasha and Clint had somehow managed to stay together in their hoard, and Clint was having no problem showing off his muscles for some of the girls white Natasha scoffed and flexed herself, showing off the muscles of her own. The girls were all in awe, and kept asking them how they managed to stay so badass all the time.

Thor was spinning in circles, trying to keep up with all the 'Midgardian Slang' that he kept hearing around him. He had apologized several times for not knowing what a Thorki was, and felt a little disappointed when a lot of the questioning going around him seemed to involve him and Loki. He finally snapped out of his confusing daze when someone asked where exactly Loki was right now. "I thought he was behind us. " Thor said frowning, and turning around once again looking for his brother. "He must have stayed on the boat then." he shrugged, unaware of the complete chaos he had just created.

"WAIT, LOKI'S STILL HERE?" one of the more rowdy girls managed to yelp out, which seemed to work in beckoning all the fangirls together at the word of Loki.

That same Loki had just decided that he might as well jump out of the boat and meet his army, as any good ruler would do. He had just stepped foot off the dock when he saw the hoard coming out towards him. He had absolutely no time to react as multiple girls had managed to tackle him to the ground before he had the chance to run.

Loki tried to get up right away, but found he was being pinned to the ground. "Get of, mMM-!" he was silenced by one of the girls firmly pressing her lips against his. He managed to to push her off of him and stand up, before wiping his mouth off and looking at them in absolute horror. The girl who kissed him had swooned and nearly passed out after he shoved her away.

There were many more girls surrounding him now, looking as if they were going to pounce on their prey, which for some reason made him feel incredibly nervous. He'd never met such obsessive creatures before in his life. He tried to escape and back away to the dock, but was soon bombarded in another embrace as the girls wrapped their arms around him in some sort of group hug. Mutters around him of being _misunderstood_ and _a special little snowflake _were overheard as he tried to struggle himself free. During his struggles, the somewhat forgotten avengers were laughing at him, as they watched the whole unexpected thing unravel.

"Get off of me!" Loki yelled, trying to gain some sort of control back in the situation, although it was to no prevail.

"Why do you all insist on embracing me!" he managed out, hoping to get some sort of reply. This was not how army's would normally greet their leader, and he didn't like it one bit.

"Because you just need a hug!" shouted out a few of the girls.

"I don't _need _anything, and if I were to, it wouldn't be a hug from any of you mortals!"

Loki had thought that insults wold surely get them to ease off him, yet it seemed to do the exact opposite.

"Oh my gosh! He's so hot when he yells!" a girl with a particularly loud voice shrieked, making the other girls nod viciously in agreement, trying to get even closer to him.

Loki half heartedly pushed a few off of him, having to resort to some sort of violence to gain control. But the girls just kept on coming, wanting to get a piece of the god of mischief. A few of the more ambitious girls had made their way to the front of the pack and began trying to kiss Loki again. He was thankful for his height at this point, although a few still managed to get a few on his cheeks, despite his flailing.

"ENOUGH!" he shouted, firmly wriggling his best to get away from the insane girls. If he ever wished he could have his magic back for just a few seconds, it would have been right about now.

The group of ignored laughing super heroes had made their way closer to Loki, and Tony managed to lock eyes with Loki over the crowd. If there was one way to describe the look Loki was giving him, it would have pleading for help. Despite Tony' s laughter, he caught the uncomfortable air about Loki that was practically coming off of him in waves.

"Hey guys, think he's had enough?" Tony said back to the group, "We should probably head back soon."

"No way, let the girls rip him apart." Clint said with a sickening smile. "He should be enjoying this. I know I sure would." he mumbled, groaning after he got a stern whack from Natasha.

Tony shook his head. "Nah, he really looks like he could use some help here. He is technically being harassed…" Tony said, starting to feel bad for him as he struggled to keep calm against the intruding girls.

"They're too obsessed with him," Bruce said matter-of-factly. "There's really nothing we could do until they get bored of him."

Tony thought for a moment. "Hmm, I do know of one thing that could get the girls distracted. At least long enough to run to the boat."

"What's that?" Steve asked, curious as to what could get the mob's attention away from Loki.

Tony just smirked before taking a deep breath, "OH MY GOD. IS THAT SHERLOCK HOLMES!" he screamed at the top of his lungs, and pointed off into the distance.

The girls all immediately froze, turning to face Tony and frantically looked over to where he was pointing, giving Loki just enough time to manoeuvre away from the circle of death. They all started shrieking again, running off blindly to the direction in which Tony had pointed.

"Quick to the boat!" Tony commanded, running over to Loki and grabbing him by the arm as they ran over to the dock.

A few girls had looked back, once they couldn't seem to find Sherlock anywhere. "THEY'RE GETTING AWAY!" one yelled, making the rest turn around and start running back to the shore.

"Go go go!" Tony said as the avengers and Loki jumped in the boat, as he quickly untied it. Tony had just barely enough time to jump on the boat himself and start it up before all the girls could reach them.

Tony was fast to get away, driving in the wrong direction on purpose, just incase they were going to follow them somehow.

"Whew! What a rush!" Tony said, after being at a safe distance. He gave Loki a playful nudge in the seat beside him.

The rest of the team chuckled slightly, although there was some sort of awkward air to it. None of them could believe what had happened to Loki. Tony was right, fangirls were insane.

Tony decided he would talk to Loki about the encounter later, and keep the conversations lighter for now.

"Hey Tony…" Bruce started, running a hand throughout his hair, "How did you know to yell out 'Sherlock Holmes'," he said frowning with a slight smile, thinking as if it were the weirdest thing for someone like Tony to yell.

"I was doing press at a convention in London once, there's this british detective guy Sherlock Holmes, and I knew that something was up when the girls started running after him instead of me." he smirked arrogantly. "I knew he recently gotten famous here, and I thought it was worth a try." he shrugged.

Bruce laughed, leave it to Tony to know how to deter a group of girls.

xxx

After looping around the lake a few times just to be sure they had no followers, they made it back to camp safely. Everyone had slumped down in their regular spots around the fire, and started up an idle conversation about their fans.

Loki on the other hand, after getting himself settled had gone down to the water and tried to wash off the lipstick marks all over his neck and cheeks, which Thor teased him about the whole way back. He was exhausted from their trip, but knew he needed to get those blasted things off of him.

Tony had settled the boat, and made sure everyone was happy up at camp, he decided to go see Loki. He wanted to talk to him about his little… encounter with the army.

"So, general. How'd you like the soldiers?" he teased as he came behind Loki, sitting down next to him on some rocks before the water.

Loki just gave Tony a half amused smile, and continued wiping away at his neck with a shirt he stole from Clint's tent when no one was looking. It was now stained with all different colours of lipstick, not that he cared for the piece of cloth anyways.

Loki rung out the cloth, thinking he was done, and turned to face Tony. "They seemed to be rather fond of you before I appeared." he said, staring down to the water.

Tony smirked,"I'm Iron Man, who isn't fond of me." he teased, copying Loki's tone.

Loki again gave him a half smile and returned to staring off at the water. It grew silent for a few moments between them before Tony dipped his hand in the water, and then brought it up to Loki's cheek. Loki's first instinct was to pull away, but he didn't this time. He just sat there, raising an eyebrow at the action, too tired to move.

"You missed one." Tony shrugged, wiping away the kiss mark on his jaw with a few simple brushes from his thumb.

"Thanks." Loki mumbled quietly, refusing to look back up to him.

Tony smirked to himself and relaxed, stretching out on the rocks around them. "No problem Loki."

**Hey you guys! Long wait, my apologies. But, this is the longest chapter so far, so maybe that makes up for it, yes no? anyways, I spent more time than usual on this so maybe we could get some reviews on here telling me if you liked it? hated it? ! I'd like to know either way. :) also, probably two more chapters before I'll post _A Winter With Loki_, as many of you said you'd love to see it! :D which made me feel very special xD Also, with that story… things _might_ just get a little bit frosty.. and irony… ;) ...Maybe.**

**Thanks again guys! Also, to all my guest reviewers! You guys rock! Thanks for taking the time to review, I love every single one of your guys's comments :D **


	20. Skipping

**Chapter 20, Skipping**

The lake was calm and so were the heroes up beach, keeping a peaceful vibe throughout the rest of the afternoon. Tony and Loki had stayed on the rocks by the water, just relaxing in a somewhat companionable silence. That was, until Tony got bored. He looked over to Loki who seemed to not have a problem with staring off into the lake and sighed. He glanced down to the rocks they were siting on and picked up a little smooth one, playing with it in his hand. After a moment of lazily flipping it over he got an idea.

"Hey, Loki. Have you ever skipped a rock before?" he asked breaking the silence.

Loki raised a curious eyebrow and shook his head no.

Tony smiled, "Then watch and learn." he said with a smirk as he stood up. He took the rock he was holding and tossed it in the air once for dramatic effect. Glancing over to Loki again to make sure he was watching, he tossed his stone at the water. It skipped four times before sinking into the blue.

Loki stayed sitting but was amused by the simple trick.

"You try." Tony prompted and scanned the ground for more flat rocks.

Loki who was growing rather bored himself, decided it could do no harm and stood up next to Tony.

"Here, catch." Tony said, tossing him a flat stone.

Loki caught it from him and inspected it, rubbing over the smooth surface with his thumb.

"I bet you can't get more than four." Tony teased, giving him some room to throw.

Loki rolled his eyes and wound up, knowing this was a game of simple physics. He threw his rock without too much thought, and successfully got... one skip.

Tony started to laugh before Loki shot him a glare, shutting him up. Loki quickly grabbed another rock to throw again, and only got two measly skips.

Tony stifled a laugh and Loki reached down for a new rock _again._ Although, before he had the chance to throw it Tony butted it.

"Try flicking your wrist more, it's all about getting a good rotation." Tony said, but Loki held up his hand.

"I'm aware of what to do." he huffed, and threw his rock, once again getting only two skips.

"What did I say?" Tony said, resting his hands on his hips and watching Loki grow more frustrated. Loki was once again bending over and grabbing a new rock, showing no signs of giving up.

He threw his rock with extra force this time, although it was to no prevail. His stone sank straight into the water, without one skip.

Loki was teeming now, growing more and more angry with himself, by not being able to do the stupid action a mortal could. He took _another_ rock and wound up again, ready to throw but Tony reached out and grabbed his wrist first.

"Unhand me." Loki nearly growled, about to rip his arm away from him.

"No, just calm down for a second." Tony said, keeping a firm grip on him.

"Don't tell me what to do." Loki sneered and pushed Tony away from him with his other hand.

Tony, who wasn't expecting the push let go of Loki and stumbled back. His foot met with a larger rock and fell backwards, right onto his back.

Tony let out a yelp as he felt a few of the rocks jab into him as he fell. Loki immediately regretted his action and crouched down beside Tony who was rubbing his back.

"What the hell was that for?" Tony groaned, and kept a watchful eye as Loki took a knee beside him.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to push you that hard." Loki said honestly, a tinge of regret entering his voice.

"But you still meant to _push_ me." Tony said, wincing as he felt his back over.

Loki sighed running a hand through his hair, "Are you alright?

Tony wiped his hands off on his shorts, "Yeah I'm fine." He mumbled, although a small section of his back was bothering him a bit.

"Is your back fine?" Loki asked skeptically and leaned over to take a look for himself.

The back of Tony's white shirt was ripped in one patch, where a sharper rock seemed to have scratched him.

"Your shirt ripped." Loki said, "Sorry." He said again, feeling worse for his unnecessary action now.

"It's fine, Loki." Tony sighed tiredly.

"No, I-I am sorry."

Tony furrowed his eyebrows, "You've said that like three times now. I think I'll live."

Loki sighed, "It wasn't my intention to lash out like that. I didn't find the idea of you beating me at something so simple very appealing."

"Yeah well, I was only trying to help you." Tony said a little defensively.

"You've been trying to help me a lot this past week or so and I've not been the most thankful person."

"It's not that big of a deal." Tony shrugged. "It wasn't like anyone else was wiling to help you out."

"But that is my point." Loki said, "You and the captain, have made some sort of effort to help me feel more comfortable here, and I repay you in... bruises."

Tony chuckled slightly, "Loki, I'm pretty sure I've been more banged up then this. Don't worry about it. I've already forgotten about it." He said with a bit of a smile.

Loki smiled at Stark's easy going nature and stood up, holding out a hand for Tony to take. Tony gladly accepted and allowed Loki to pull him up.

Loki placed a gentle hand on his back, making sure he was steady before letting go of him.

"So, would you like to learn how to properly skip a rock?" Tony said with grin.

Loki chuckled slightly and gave a curt nod.

xxx

Up at the camp, the avenging heroes sat conversing in their little chair circle. They were in the midsts raving about their encounters earlier when Clint spoke up above everyone.

"Hey wheres Tony and Mr. Popular?" He asked, getting the teams attention on him.

"I'm pretty sure they're down by the water." Steve said, "Loki went to clean off all the lipstick." He said with a bit off a smile.

"Those two have formed some sort of a friendship huh Steve?" Clint asked with a bit of distaste in his tone.

Steve shrugged, "I guess, Tony's really the only one that ever talks to him. Besides you Thor of course."

Thor gave him a nod. "It is true. Although he is my brother, I don't blame you for not speaking with him." Thor said with a bit of a laugh.

The team chuckled, except for Steve who kept a careful eye down on the water watching for his roommates.

"So what's for dinner?" Bruce asked once the laugher died down.

"I'm not sure. We're running out of food." Natasha said. "We have three hot dogs left." She said with a frown.

"Yikes, by the looks of it we're probably going to have to head back soon." Bruce said.

"I was hoping you wouldn't say that." Clint sighed. "I was just starting to enjoy myself."

Thor nodded. "I would rather stay here than do more work papers at the shield base."

"Paper work, Thor." Natasha smirked.

"Oh, yes." He nodded in understanding and gave her a thankful smile.

"Alright someone start the fire." Clint said, "I'm going to go get the honeymooners."

Clint got up with a self satisfied smirk at his own joke as he made his way down to the water. As he got closer something caught his eye, and it wasn't the two throwing rocks into the water off to his right. No, it was the boat coming in from his left.

He furrowed his eyebrows as he tried to make out who exactly was on the boat. Tony said this side of the lake was abandoned, which meant it had to be someone from across. He squinted off into the distance as his heart sank. Before he could yell out, the people on the boat beat him to it.

"WE FOUND THEM!"

**This was a lot quicker, was it not? :D Glad you guys liked the awaited fangirl chapter, and I think there may be only 1 chapter left before A Winter With Loki, but you guys shouldn't have to wait too long for that as I already have MANY ideas for it! :) Thanks again. You guys are the best. :) **


	21. Running

**Chapter 21, Running **

_**A/N: My apologies, this is not the last chapter :) Just so you know. **_

Clint felt his heart drop as everything around him started coming into place. "Oh, no. Oh hell no." he said quietly to himself. He stared in shock at the incoming boat and turned as fast as he could, running to tell the others.

"THEY'RE BACK! THE FANGIRLS! THEY'RE BACK!" he screamed as he kept running towards the camp.

The disturbance caused the relaxing avengers to all turn in their chairs, raising a curious eyebrow at the archer booking it towards them at a dangerous speed.

"What did you say?" Natasha asked, as Clint came to a messy stop in front of them all.

"I said they're back. The fangirls, they found us." he said in between breaths, pointing off towards the lake where a few boats began to come into view.

The group of heroes all shared a similar look.

"We're trapped." Bruce said simply. "They're here, and we're trapped."

The remaining heroes all gulped and nodded, knowing he was right.

"How are we going to escape them then?" Steve asked, "I don't want them to be harassing us for the rest of our vacation."

Bruce shook his head, "We're going to have to leave. And quick, I think they're already docking their boats." he said growing a little anxious. "Now."

Clint nodded, "Yeah, I guess, everybody head to the copter?"

"We must leave? Right now?" Thor asked, bringing a hand to rub at the back of his neck.

"Do you want the girls all over you, asking you those odd questions again?" Clint asked raising an eyebrow.

Thor sighed a heavy sigh. "I suppose we must. I also fear for my brother, I do not believe he could withstand another attack from the girls."

"...Wait, a minute. Your brother. Where did Loki and Tony go?" Bruce asked, suddenly fearing for his friend and Loki's life.

"Oh, crap." Came Clint's delayed reply. "They were by the water."

**xxx**

"See you've got it now!" Tony said encouragingly as Loki threw a stone that skipped four times before sinking into the deep below.

Loki turned back to him with a smile. "I suppose listening to your advice proved to be rather helpful." he said with a playful smirk.

Tony grinned back to him in reply. "What can I tell you Loki, I'm always right."

Loki rolled his eyes, "We'll just have to see about that."

Tony smiled to himself as he picked up another rock and passed it to Loki.

Loki took the rock from him, and wound up, just as Tony had told him to. He took one last moment analyzing the angle, before whipping his rock at the water, getting an impressive six skips.

He quickly turned to Tony with a huge grin. "That was six! I've beaten you Stark!" he bragged, but soon frowned as he noticed Tony's distracted expression.

Tony's eyes were wide as he turned to face him.

"I beat y-." Loki tried so say, but was soon stopped by Tony's hand covering his mouth.

"Shh, be quiet." Tony said, keeping his hand firmly pressed against Loki's lips.

"Mmmfaw Stark!" Loki grumbled out as he pulled away from him, "What are you do- MM!"

"Shut up!" Tony hissed, keeping a firm hand on Loki's shoulder and the other still over his mouth. "Look." he said quietly, and motioned off to their left.

Loki felt his back go stiff as he saw the plethora of girls begin to jump off of the boat that had docked on their shore. He returned his gaze to Tony and pulled away from him again, now understanding.

"We mustn't let them see us." Loki whispered as the anger faded from his voice and was replaced with anxiety.

Tony nodded, "I know, we have to get out of here." he whispered back.

"They're going to see us, or hear us no matter where we go."

"Why can't you have your magic when we need it?"

Loki frowned. "Well perhaps if you animals hadn't bound me..."

Tony shot him a dangerous look, "Shh." he hushed, "Now's not the time."

Loki raised both his eyebrows, "You are the one bringing it up." he countered.

Tony rolled his eyes. "Just be quiet."

Loki huffed and obeyed.

Tony surveyed the area, their camp couldn't be seen from their position by the rocks, and he assumed the girls would easily see them if they tried running.

"I guess our only option is the forest." Tony said unhappily.

"They will see us enter it definitely."

"Yeah, but it's our best chance at loosing them. We'll have a good head start."

Loki glanced between the forest off the their left and the girls who started running up the beach.

"…I suppose."

Tony let out an admittedly shaky breath. "Yeah, we gotta go. Now."

Loki gave him a solemn nod, accepting it was their best option.

Tony nodded back to him and then began running towards their wooded escape, with Loki hot on his heels.

The girls, being the observant creatures that they are, saw the two of them run up the beach before turning swiftly into the forest.

"I SEE LOKI AND TONY!" A girl screeched at the top of her lungs, pointing off in their direction.

The call was heard up beach from the remaining avengers, and a look of remorse passed through all their eyes.

"So, I think they found them." Natasha deadpanned as she crawled in next to Clint in the cockpit.

"We must help them." Thor said sternly, a wave of overprotectiveness now coursed through his veins for his little brother and the man of iron.

Bruce sat awkwardly in his seat, not exactly sure of what to do, and shared a similar glance with Clint.

Steve stood up, deciding to take action. "Thor, you and I will go find them. The rest of you get buckled in and ready for a quick retreat." he ordered, his captain label soon coming into rank.

The crew all nodded, and agreed on the plan. Thor and Steve jumped of the copter and began running into the forest from where they were.

**xxx**

Tony was huffing now, and Loki was leading the run as they weaved through the woods. "Are you well?" came Loki's voice without the slightest sign of a waver. He slowed down a step to match Tony's pace and looked to him with an eyebrow raised.

"Yeah. Fine." Tony answered between breaths, and suddenly stopped.

Loki skidded to a stop also and gave him a questioning look.

"Listen. I think we lost them."

Loki tilted his head as he listened for footsteps, but was pleasantly surprised when all he could hear was the nature around them.

Tony smiled the best he could before grabbing his side where he felt the beginning of a side stitch forming.

Loki frowned as he noticed his actions. "What is wrong with your side."

"It's just a cramp. You know, wasn't expecting to be sprinting a lot today. Thought I was on vacation and all."

Loki continued to frown. "A cramp? From endurance running?"

Tony gave him an odd look. "Uh.. yeah?"

Loki started to chuckle. "Your mortal bodies are pathetic."

Tony furrowed his brows. "My body is not _pathetic_. "

Loki was about to disagree when he suddenly stopped, his head shooting up from hearing a disturbance in the forest off to their right.

"They're here."

"SHh." Tony hushed, and stayed frigid where he was.

"Did they not all come from the entrance?" Loki questioned in a hushed tone.

"I thought so, that's the direction to camp…" he whispered as it dawned on him. "They must have already invaded up there."

Loki nodded solemnly.

"We're trapped now." Tony said, letting out a puff of frustrated air and ruffled a hand through his hair.

Loki visibly flinched from the nearing footsteps, and Tony frowned.

"You're making it seem like it's worse than death. A bunch of chicks attacking you with kisses can't be all that bad. I know from experience." he smirked.

Loki raised an eyebrow at him before shaking his head. "They are more so annoying than anything. I'd rather not be forced to the ground and assaulted in that matter right about now." he said pausing for a moment. "I believe a few of them were trying to strip me."

Tony stifled a laugh as he heard the movement in the woods get louder suddenly. "Okay time to go."

Loki began running again and Tony was quick to come beside him.

They heard the footsteps grow closer, and someone yell "Tony!" from the woods beside them.

Loki was fast to quicken his pace but Tony had a slightly different reaction.

His head swung around as the voice sounded familiar. He grabbed Loki's arm ahead of him, as he turned to face their persuers. "…Steve?"

Loki whipped around from Tony's tug only be face to face with none other than Steve and Thor.

"Where are the girls?" Loki asked, more than relieved to see his brother and the Captain than ever.

"Last time we saw they were at the entrance." Steve said, not appearing to be out of breath at all, and eyed Tony carefully. "You okay?"

"Yes fine." he hissed. "Sorry my stamina isn't up to par with super soldiers and _Gods_." he said a bit too loud for their own good, and Loki "Shushed" him this time.

Tony rolled his eyes. "So your route is safe back to camp?" he asked his two rescuers.

"Yes. If we hurry, we should make it back unscathed." Thor said with a smile to his little brother.

It was Loki's turn to roll his yes. "Onward then." he ordered, and began jogging in the direction they came without discussion.

Thor quickly chased after Loki, and Tony chuckled making his way back alongside Steve… barely.

"You know, I could help you out with your carido?" Steve suggested in a helpful tone.

Tony promptly stuck out his leg and tripped Steve.

**Hey guys! Sorry about the wait, seriously. I've been trying to find time, because I love writing these guys and hearing what you guys think! **

**Also, I think there will be maybe one more chapter, or two. Until A Winter With Loki. :) And I will try to get the next update up faster :) **

**I don't want to ask, but I would love it if you could take the time to review! :) Every last word means the world to a writer :) **


	22. On the Road Again

**Chapter 22, On the Road Again**

Steve had had quickly recovered from his fall, and caught back up to Tony with ease.

"Have a nice trip, Captain?" Tony smirked as he saw Steve brushing some dirt off his shirt.

Steve gave him a glare and brushed him off, knowing that tripping him back wouldn't be the right thing to do. ( No matter how bad he wanted to. )

They had weaved their way through the forest successfully, and had made it back up to the modded helicopter with the others. Thor and Loki were already seated and ready to go.

Clint was motioning with his hands for them to hurry up, and pointed up down the beach, where another boat began docking off girls.

"There- there's more?" Tony questioned the best he could while catching his breath.

"Yeah, and they're running, fast." Clint said as he swung back into the pilots chair. "Get in, we're getting out of here."

Loki tapped his foot impatiently as he awaited Tony and Steve to jump on. The sudden image of the girls hanging off of the copter while they tried to take off was imbedded in his mind. He shivered from the thought of it.

Tony quickly got in, and sat himself beside Loki just as last time, and Steve was soon to follow.

Clint took one last look back to make sure everyone was in before he started up the propellers.

In the back, Tony ran a hand through his hair as he was finally able to relax. He blew out a puff of air and slumped back in his chair, ready for a peaceful ride- before his stomach clenched. "…Guys. My boat!"

"What about it?" Steve questioned from across him.

"The girls are going to rip it to pieces." Tony moaned, and crossed his ams childishly.

Steve shrugged, "You could easily just buy a new one."

Tony harrumphed, "It's not the same."

Loki rolled his eyes at Tony, and leaned back in his chair, eyeing the camp as they began accending. He glanced to their tent and was glad for once he hadn't had the chance to bring anything that could be left behind. _Except._

"My helmet!" Loki exclaimed, nearly jumping out of his seat.

Tony felt his heart skip a beat from his unexpected outburst, "Jeez, calm down." he said frowning at him.

Loki shot him a death glare, "So you're allowed to be upset over your boat, and I'm not over my helmet!"

"Brother, do calm down." Thor repeated in a more soothing matter.

Loki gave Thor a look of pure hurt. "I've had that helmet since before your coronation."

"We can always have another made."

"They will refuse."

Tony listened in on the brothers conversation ( Well, more like Loki whining and Thor trying his best to help ) and couldn't help but feel a touch of empathy for Loki.

"I'll speak to the blacksmith." said Thor in a reassuring voice.

"He will refuse Thor! It's not the same!"

Tony looked down, knowing he'd just uttered the same words.

"Quit whining!" Came Clint's voice in the front, which made Bruce in the far back snicker slightly. "We're not going back for your helmet!"

Loki huffed, knowing that they couldn't, and chewed on the inside of his lip in frustration.

After a few moments and after Loki calmed down, Tony knocked his knee against Loki's, getting his attention. "Hey, if you think on the bright side, you probably made one of those girls very very happy." he grinned and nudged his knee again.

"Or caused a death match between the creatures." came Loki's monotonous reply.

Tony winced and gave him a slow nod, thinking that was an extremely plausible point. "Um, you could be right, actually." he laughed.

Loki smirked to himself, "And I thought you were always right?"

Tony chuckled, glad to have some sort of playful tone back in him. "That's correct." he smirked right back, "I am."

Loki rolled his eyes, and gave him one of those rare smiles. "Of course."

**xxx**

Throughout the flight, Thor and Steve had fallen asleep, leaving Bruce, Tony and Loki to themselves. Bruce awkwardly picked at his fingernails, and glanced out the windows. His gaze ever so often meeting Tony's who gave him a tired smirk in reply.

Loki on the other hand was sitting silently, seemingly pleased with the peace and had no problem sitting still for a while. And Tony, well Tony was tired of the silence.

"Hey! Big bird!" Tony called to the front. Natasha turned to face him, but Clint stayed facing forward. "I know you can hear me, put on some tunes!"

Natasha smirked, and discussed it over with the bird himself. Clint looked back to Tony and gave him a smile that was all too kind. "Of course, Tony. Anything for you."

Tony raised an eyebrow, and gave him a bit of a smile in return.

His smile soon turned sour as the sharp twang of country music began seeping through the speakers.

Tony's eyes widened, along with Bruce's smirk in the back.

"You've got to be kidding me." Tony groaned and glared back to the cockpit.

"Hey, pilot gets to chose the music." came Clint's crisp reply. "And this pilot likes country."

Tony hung his head dramatically and Bruce began to laugh, leaving Loki to wonder where in this contraption the sound was coming from.

**xxx**

They landed on top Stark Tower by nightfall, and all tiredly slumped out of their ride and onto the asphalt. After a few stretches they silently slinked back inside the tower.

They all fit themselves into Stark's personal elevator and hit the button for the main floor, awkwardly shifting around as there as definitely not enough room for them to be standing without touching.

"So," Tony said breaking the silence. "What are we gonna tell Fury?"

"We can't tell him we were chased out by girls." Clint said stubbornly.

"Why, afraid it will bruise your record?" Natasha teased him with a nudge to the side.

"Not just that. I mean, we're the_ Avengers_."

Tony chuckled, "Clint, Furry could care less about what happened to us back there, as long as we're all alive and Loki's still with us, I don't think we'll be in much trouble."

"I don't care if we get in trouble. It's just embarrassing." he mumbled as they came to their floor.

A few of the stray agents smiled and nodded to them as they walked through the hallways, and into the center area of the floor where Loki's cell sat.

Loki physically stiffened as they neared it, and everyone looked between him and it awkwardly.

Before anyone had the chance to say anything, or Loki to protest for that matter Fury and a few agents he was walking with turned the corner and stopped abruptly as he was met face to face with his heroes.

"You're early." he noted.

"Nice to see you too." Tony chided with his snarky attitude he usually faced Fury with.

"Might I ask why, the people few people I actually allow to go on vacation, come back, _early_?"

"…Tigers." Tony said glancing about the room. "We were chased by tigers, and were forced to flee camp."

Bruce began to chuckle and Clint rolled his eyes.

"_Tigers_, Stark?" Fury said crossing his arms.

"Yeah, those things are deadly, and fast. They chased us, And they seem to have quite the hankering for Gods of Mischief." he chuckled.

Fury raised an odd eyebrow, and locked eyes with Ms. Romanoff. Who cracked a smile.

"There were those girls. Fangirls." She admitted, "They found our campsite, and basically took over."

Fury stared at her blankly, before a chuckle came out of his lips before he could bring a fist up to his mouth. "Is that bit true, about them chasing you?"

"Straight down to the Loki bit." Tony added.

"This guy?" Fury said, pointing to Loki, who glared at him, "This guy right here. Loki."

Tony nodded, "Yeah, I was confused too." he smirked, and gave Loki a good natured elbow.

Fury nodded slowly, "No problems with him though?" he asked, the group.

Everyone shrugged, "No, he was well behaved." Tony added again, and placed his hand atop Loki's shoulder.

Loki eyed the hand carefully, but decided playing nice right now would probably work well in his favour.

"Well, I guess it's time for him to get back in his cage."

Loki took a step forward with an obvious look of distaste, and Fury brought a hand to rest on the gun at his hip.

"I'm sorry?" Loki said, sarcastically, speaking out to Fury. "I can assure you I didn't try once to harm any one of your heroes throughout that whole trip, and you still punish me? Was this not proof enough to at least trust me in the slightest?"

Fury glanced to the Avengers, who were shuffling awkwardly in their spot.

"Loki was exactly as he said." Thor nodded, "He did not act out once."

"I don't care how he acted, Odin gave us the rules to keep this guy locked up while he's here. And that's exactly what I intend to do. He's the God of Lies, how can we trust anything he's saying?"

Loki bit his lip hard at the mention of this and Tony took a confident step forward.

"Listen up Patchy..."

**HELLO, Yes, THEY'RE HOME! AND Let me tell you. I've got this all planned out! Should be one more chappy and then A WINTER WITH LOKI! UNLESS, something drastic happens! Gasp!Okay it's late, Going to bed. You guys are the best readers and I'd like to thank every single reviewer for getting this over 300! You guys are the best, literally. Yes you, right there. You are. **

**Thanks! :) **


	23. Arrangements

**Chapter 23: Arrangements **

"_Listen up Patchy…" _

Fury raised an eyebrow at Tony and tilted his chin up, ready to shut down anything Tony had in mind.

"I had to sleep beside this guy in a tent_ every single night_ that we crashed there. A tent, I may add that was way too small for two people, let alone_ three _to share. And, not once did Loki ever try to kill, or harm any one of us at any time, even when we were most vulnerable, asleep."

Steve piped in, "I was in the tent with them, and I never awoke to him trying to suffocate one of us during the night, or anything for that matter. He just… slept."

Tony nodded, "See, we trusted him, because he trusted _us_ not to hurt him. I mean look at him. You're the one with your hand on your gun, and he's just…" he took a moment to eye Loki up and down, "He's just standing, awkwardly. Not exactly threatening, now is it?"

Fury kept a trained eye on Tony, glancing to Loki for a short moment and then back to Stark. He dropped his hand from his hip and crossed his arms instead. "Loki needs to be punished for what he's done, Tony."

"I'm pretty sure spending the summer cooped up with us was enough punishment for him on Earth."

Fury nodded, "He's a prisoner,"

"And who told you that?"

"Odin of course."

"Then that's it. He's not _your _prisoner. He's just supposed to stay here, as long as he's watched. You can't make up the consequences for him. That's Odin's deal." Tony countered.

Thor took a step forward. "I must say that it is part of my responsibility over Loki, that this is not his punishment yet. Odin is still planning out what to do with him, once we return to Asgard."

Loki's eyes met the ground.

"So this is more of a pre-punishment?" Tony clarified.

Thor nodded solemnly.

The avengers all rocked back on their heels awkwardly, not exactly sure what to say now. They knew not all of the damage done during the attack was due to Loki. They realized he was being manipulated, plus with the effects of the tesseract, not all of it was exactly his fault. He wasn't in his right mind, hell, he could basically plead insanity. Of course they thought he deserved to be reprimanded, but it's hard seeing someone you just spent a summer with be taken away from you into harsher hands. Even if they did destroy a city.

Fury nodded his head, almost as if he was considering their words. "So when you two do go back to Asgard, what's going to happen to him? Solitary confinement? A slap to the wrist from daddy?"

Loki's head shot up, "Do you realize who you're speaking of?" he snapped.

Thor nodded sheepishly, "Loki is right, my fathers punishments will not be light. The last time they had spoken they were not on very good terms. And Odin has been known for his past with… cruelty with prisoners. "

Fury scoffed, "So what, you think Odin's going to physically harm his own son?"

_"Not his son_." Loki reminded.

"And not if I can stop it." Thor added. "Odin can be cruel, and unjust with his actions. As a_ brother,_ it would be greatly appreciated if Loki could stay somewhere else, other than the cell for his rest of his stay on Midgard."

Fury went silent for a few moments. He glanced to each one of the Avengers faces, looking for some sort of denial, or regret on their features; sighing once he saw none. He moved his gaze to meet Loki's. It wasn't harsh, it was just a steady look. Loki's eyes meeting his without faltering.

Fury broke the contact after a lingering moment and glanced behind him, blowing out a puff of air. "So, where's he going to stay instead?"

All of the heroes eased up, and Loki even managed a bit of a smile.

"There's a guest room up on my floor that's unoccupied." Tony shrugged, "Doors lock from the outside." he chuckled and gave Loki a nudge.

Fury gave a slow nod. "Well, alright." he took a step forward and pointed to Loki, getting dangerously close to his face. "I swear, if you try anything funny though, you're ass will be back in there without hesitation."

Loki nodded back to him and even gave a curt. "Thank you."

"Thank you, as well. Director Fury." Thor said, walking up to him and resting a hand on his shoulder.

Fury batted his hand away, muttering a "Don't mention it." and gave them all a pointed look. "I've got my eye on you." he said, before turning and leaving the way he came in.

They were all silent until the back of Fury's coat fluttered around the corner.

Tony smirked, "That same pun, every damn time."

Natasha rolled her eyes and Clint stifled a laugh, knowing all too well of his jokes.

Tony smiled, satisfied with himself and flung an arm around Loki's shoulders. "So, looks like we're floor mates." he said, giving him a toothy grin.

Loki gave him a side eye'd glance. He brushed off his arm before giving him the real smile he deserved. "Thank you, all for that." he said turning to face the group. "…I do appreciate you not making me stay in that wretched prison again." he managed out.

Clint shrugged, "Personally, I'd still like you locked up, but hey, I guess you could have tried to slit any one of our throats in our sleep while we were out there, so it was the least we could do to show our thanks."

Natasha stifled another laugh and elbowed Clint, a new habit she found she rather enjoyed as of late.

"Welcome to Stark Tower, the proper way." Tony grinned, "Come on, I'll show you to your room. The rest of you, ...relax we made it home alive."

Loki gave him a nod, and followed him back out to the elevator, not before getting a hard pat on the back from Thor that nearly knocked the wind out of him. He turned back and gave him what seemed to be half a grimace and half a sickeningly sweet smile, before following Tony to to elevator doors.

Natasha and Clint shrugged, and made their ways off to their designated areas, leaving Steve, Bruce, and Thor alone. "So, anyone want to watch a movie?" Steve suggested.

"Ah, yes technology." Bruce teased with a bit of a smile. "Why not Captain, lead the way."

**xxx**

Tony had a self satisfied smirk playing on his lips their whole silent ride up the elevator, while Loki kept glancing from him to the walls. The ding indicating their floor, had finally broken the silence and Tony and Loki made their way throughout the hallway.

"…So, you have fun on the trip, Loks?" Tony asked innocently.

"…_Loks?_" Loki questioned, raising an eyebrow, and successfully avoiding the question.

"Yeah, Loks, Loki, it's catchy." Tony smirked enjoying the simple nickname, "Now did you have fun, or not?"

Loki sighed, "I wouldn't exactly describe it as _fun_, per se."

"_But…_" Tony egged on.

"It wasn't the most dreadful thing I had ever experienced in my life."

Tony nudged him in the side, "_Ahhh,_ that's starting to sound like you liked it! Don't deny it!"

Loki looked to him unimpressed, "Sleeping, in a tiny plastic tent house, for countless nights that was far too small for the three of us, on the hard ground, without magic-"

Tony cut him off with his laugher, "Wait, plastic tent house?"

"Oh hush." Loki said harshly.

"Chill, I was kidding." Tony smirked, "So, go on about how you totally hated sleeping beside me and all? Since I woke up with your arms around me more than once, I sort of got another idea."

Loki rolled his eyes, "I'm not speaking with you any longer."

Tony chuckled, "Oh cheer up. You gotta admit it, hanging with us wasn't torture after all, was it."

Loki stayed silent, and didn't give him any sort of recognition that he even head him.

"Quit pouting." Tony said giving him another nudge.

Loki pulled away from him and continued walking silently, still not taking his eyes off the walls around him.

Tony sighed giving up, not wanting to put up with one of his silent treatments. After an awkward moment he finally stopped walking down the hallway and came outside one of the doors.

"So, this is your room." he said, with the bit of shrug, and pushed open the door.

Inside was a large room, hardwood flooring, and a large bed on one side. Nothing too extravagant. A flatscreen TV was in front of the bed, and he supposed he would just have to show Loki how to use it another time when he was in a better mood. There was also a dresser and a closet, not that Loki had any clothes to use them for anyways.

Tony took a step back and allowed Loki to look in, he gave Tony a glance before walking popping his head in. The rest of his body soon followed as he took a few steps in and examined the room, Tony staying at the entrance.

"No cameras in here, you've got complete privacy." Tony said honestly. He didn't bother to put security cameras in the guest rooms. "Uh, bathrooms across the hall, and my room is the one next to it." he said pointing behind his own shoulder.

Loki nodded and came back to the door, taking the handle with one of his hands. "This will suffice."

Tony frowned, "Suffice? You've got to be kidding me." he said, crossing his arms. "I deserve a better thanks than that. I thought we were past formalities."

Loki let a small smirk play on his lips, "Thank you, Tony." he said, beginning to close the door on him. "I'd enjoy it if you left me to relax now."

"Hey, don't I get a hug or anything?" Tony asked with a smirk, and Loki promptly slammed the door on him.

Tony chuckled, clicking his tongue with a shake of his head, "Rude!"

Loki rolled his eyes again, and opened the door back open. "Will you leave now?"

Tony shook his head, "No, not till you apologize."

Loki grinned, and cocked his head to the side. "Is that so?" he asked rhetorically yet there was a hint of playfulness to it, and closed the door on him, albiet this time a bit softer.

Tony stifled a bit of a chuckle and banged on the door. "Manners, Loki!" he called, before jiggling the door handle jokingly, "I can lock you in here you know." he teased, although after getting no response to that he sighed again and turned to leave.

Tony was a few steps away from the door when he heard a "Stark!" come from the other side of the door. He smiled to himself and went back to his door. "Yes, dear?"

There was a bit of a pause before Loki's voice came, a bit softer this time. "The trip may have been, a bit more enjoyable than I originally thought." he admitted, "Perhaps even, fun. _At times_."

Tony gave himself a celebratory fist pump, and grinned as he glanced to the door, "I knew it!"

Loki shook his head, and grinned a little before moving away from the door. As he made his way over to the bed he heard a faint, "See you tomorrow, Loki." come from the other side of the door, as he laid down on the bed. He kept that small grin playing on his lips as he stared up to the ceiling, "Tomorrow, Tony." he murmured to no one, and finally allowed himself to relax. Both completely oblivious to the fact that neither of their tomorrows would not go as planned.

**SO, I UPDATED, after the threat of being eaten by an anon, twice? Anyways, I'm sorry if there are typos, it's late, and I've been super busy lately with sports and school. Also, I'd like to make a note that everyone who has Story Alerted this may want to Author Alert me if they would like to be notified when A Winter With Loki is posted. There will be a small chapter explaining the clifhanger at the end here, but that's it before A Winter With Loki. Thanks guys so much for being the best reviewers ever. It is the most incredible feeling getting such feedback on a story. :) **

**Thanks again :) **


	24. Gone Like the Wind

**Gone Like the Wind**

The next morning came quicker than any of them would imagine. Tony had slept in, as he ususaly did back at the tower, and was the last of the team to make his way down to breakfast with them. He stretched out happily, his back thanking him for sleeping back in his own bed again. He found himself in a pretty good mood, and even decided to grab a piece of toast _before_ heading over to get a coffee. A rare thing indeed for Tony Stark. The man was fuelled off caffein.

Now with a cup in hand and a piece of buttered toast on his plate, he smiled and took a seat next to Bruce at the table.

"You look surprisingly… awake." Bruce commented, as he looked over the morning paper.

Tony shrugged, "What can I say. I had a great sleep, we had a great vacation, and all my friends made it back safe." he said, looking up to smile at the rest of the team, who were lounging around the kitchen. All seemed to be happily eating away, except for Thor who was staring down at his five poptarts in dismay.

Clint raised his eyebrow at Tony's statement. "…All your friends?" he questioned, as he swallowed down the last bit of his bagel. "Where's your buddy Loki?"

Thor tensed at the word of his brother, and slumped back further in his chair.

Tony seemed to perk up a bit at his question and looked puzzled in thought. "Yeah… where is ol' Loki anyways?" he questioned, looking over the table at the rest of them. "His door was open this morning, so I assumed he was down here."

Clint shrugged and stole a poptart from Thor's plate, the god not even protesting.

Tony frowned, and sipped at his coffee in thought. "Thor, you're acting pretty weird this morning. Did you and Loki have a fight or something?"

Thor looked up to him and shook his head. "No, _we_ did not fight."

That only picked at Tony's curiosity more. "What do you mean 'we'?"

Thor sighed and pushed forward his plate before sitting up a bit straighter in his chair, his face contorting in what looked like a mix of pain and anger. "Odin…. he had spoken to me this morning. About Loki, and his punishments."

Bruce and Natasha both leaned forward, suddenly very interested in the conversation. Steve furrowed his eyebrows, completely puzzled at how they could have talked.

"He had awoken me in the early morning, only as a voice. The All Father was informing of how he intended to take Loki back soon, as he had decided on a punishment."

Tony raised an eyebrow, shocked at the news. "And?" he pressed, impatiently. "Where's he now?"

"I had told him I did not want him to be taken back so soon. I explained to him how he had been getting along rather well with our team, but he would not have any of it. He won't see Loki as anything but a criminal as of now."

"_Where is he now?_" Tony repeated. "Odin didn't take him back already, _did he_?" he asked harshly, feeling his temper rising.

Thor took a deep breath before explaining what happened exactly.

**xxx**

"Father, I tell you the truth. Loki is doing well, I think punishment would suit him ill. Negative enforcements will not work on him." Thor said, frowning up at the ceiling, although no image of his father was there, he could sense his presence.

"Ridiculous. He is a criminal of war and shall be treated as one. Thank your Midgardian friends for housing him. I will be collecting him shortly for his Asgardian justice." Came Odin's voice, not willing to argue.

"Father, have you no sympathy for your son? You must understand he was being controlled, he was not in his right _mind _during his attack."

"You knew the terms of his punishment long ago, he must fulfil what _we_ have sentenced for him."

Thor reached out his arm instinctively for Mjolnir as he was getting more and more frustrated. "And what is this perfect punishment that took you months to conjure?"

Odin paused for a moment, before replying. His voice perfectly calm and smooth. "He shall have his lips sewn, and endure solit-"."

"JUSTICE? HOW DARE YOU CALL THIS JUSTICE! MUTILATION, FATHER HOW COU-"

"ENOUGH!" Came Odin's booming voice, silencing Thor, although he was seething now. "I have summoned guards to take him already. Do not try and stop them."

"I will come to Asgard and stop you myself." he growled, gripping the handle of Mjolnir.

"If you so much as interact with Loki I will make _you _hold the needle and thread."

Thor was already running by the end of his fathers sentence, making his way to Loki's room as fast as he could. He bounded up the stairs, and reached the room beside Tony's. He nearly ripped the door off the hinges, and just had enough time to see two Aseir guards grab Loki roughly from what must have been his sleep and yank him into a portal. Loki didn't even have the time to yelp before he was silenced roughly by the large men and zapped away. The two brothers made eye contact for a fleeting moment, and the only emotion Thor could decipher in Loki's eyes was fear. Thor lunged at the disappearing portal, but only managed end up in the same room. He was too late. He wanted to scream. to yell, to damn his father to the underworld. To save his little brother from his unfair fate, but he knew he couldn't. Loki was gone, and there was nothing he could do without making it worse. He cursed into the night and only stopped himself from tearing a hole in the wall when he heard his fathers voice come back into his head.

"…This is your last warning. I am refusing you to come back to Asgard until Loki has been dealt with. You clearly are not mature enough to witness. I may allow you to come and see him on a later date, although Heimdall will alert me if you so much as try to conjure yourself back, and I will make sure both of you are punished for it. If you so much as act out from this incident, I will make sure all of Asgard knows." and just like that, Odin's voice was gone.

Thor stood at the doorway, staring at Loki's sheets strewn across the room for a few moments before slinking off to his room, never hating his father more so than now.

**xxx**

"You let them take him!" Tony exclaimed, nearly knocking over his coffee in his attempt to lean over the table.

"Didn't you hear him? He tried to stop him." Steve said, leaning against the counter with his arms crossed trying to defend Thor.

Tony glared at Steve. "He should have yelled for me! I am literally the door right beside him!"

Natasha frowned and raised her eyebrow at Tony. "How did you not hear any of that going on?"

"All the rooms on my floor are sound proof."

Thor was shaking his head, "Even if I did alert you there was nothing I could do. My father threatens to make his punishment worse if we so much as interfere."

Tony just stared at Thor for a moment before getting up, not bothering to put away his plate or push in his chair.

"Where are you going?" Bruce called after him.

"Workshop." he replied, briskly walking out of the kitchen and down the stairs to his lab.

Steve brought a hand up to scratch at his neck awkwardly, and Thor heaved a heavy sigh.

"You're being immature." Natasha shouted out to Tony. "Think of how Thor feels."

Thor shook his head, "It is understandable. I was starting to believe Loki would prefer talking to Tony over me."

"...Should I go talk to him?" Steve asked, with a small shrug.

"No, I'll do it." Bruce said, getting up, but actually taking the time to push in his chair before going down to meet Tony in his workshop.

Steve let out a bit of a relieved sigh, and Thor looked sheepishly still at his food. "If I could have done something I would."

"We know buddy." Clint said, giving him a pat on the arm. "Tony's just a baby. He doesn't like it when people touch his stuff."

**xxx**

Bruce walked down the few stairs and entered in the access code Tony gave him to enter his lab. He saw Tony sitting at one of his desks, scribbling down prints for something.

"Hey." Bruce said, coming to sit down in the chair beside him.

Tony didn't acknowledge him and flipped over what he was working on, continuing to scribble out new designs on the other side.

"So, why are you so upset over this?" Bruce asked, kicking Tony's shoe with his own to get a reaction.

Tony frowned and looked up to him then, dropping his pen on the table.

"Cause the guy who could basically plead insanity in a court here, get's ripped away by his crazy adopted father to go get his lips sewn together for a crime he was manipulated into committing? I don't know about you, but I think that's pretty screwed up Bruce."

Bruce sighed and nodded, knowing Tony only talked in run on sentences when he was worried. "It does sound pretty harsh, even for Loki."

Tony turned in his chair to face him. "What does that mean. _Even_ for Loki."

Bruce gave him a puzzled expression but Tony didn't give him much time for a reply.

"I'm getting a little tired of everyone treating him so horribly. This guy is messed up, psychologically, and I don't think anyone realizes that he is going back to a place he called home, to get _tortured_."

Bruce went to say something but Tony held up a hand, clearly not finished. "You know what screws people up psychologically? Torture! So why would anyone in their right mind think that is a proper punishment for someone like him. He did his crime on Earth, in America. He should have our system of law." Tony said shaking his head. "But torture, that's _disgusting._" he mumbled under his breath.

"Tony, if this is about Afghanistan…"

"It's not about Afghanistan!" he shouted, "It's about letting a once mentally ill god get taken away in my own tower to go and get his lips literally sewn shut."

"Would you have cared this much if that was his punishment before the summer? Before you got to know him?"

Tony paused for a minute. "No one deserves pain like that. No one deserves to have their right of speech taken away from them."

Bruce nodded, "I agree, and Asgard is clearly not a very civil place, Tony."

Tony nodded, "He was just taken from us. Just like that. He trusted us, and then gets taken away, without even a _goodbye_."

Bruce sighed, "I know, Tony. I know."

"I spent countless nights, up with that guy. Getting to know him, he really isn't that bad. At least I know he doesn't want to be."

Bruce nodded, again picking up the pen Tony was using earlier and playing with it. "I knew you guys were getting pretty close."

Tony shrugged, "I guess."

Bruce dropped the pen and shrugged as well, giving Tony a pat. "He'll be okay."

Tony just stared down at his papers, and Bruce let his hand fall from his shoulder. A bit of an awkward silence filled the air, and Bruce coughed slightly.

"...Bruce, I appreciate you coming down and all. But, I think I just want to work on some stuff right now." he said tapping the table and taking back his pen.

"Yeah, I'll… go finish breakfast then." Bruce said, getting up to leave. "But hey, don't be too depressed, I hear Pepper's getting back from her parents sometime this week." he said, attempting to bring some sort of lightness to the conversation.

Tony only nodded, and waited for Bruce to leave. He appreciated his attempt at cheering him up, but wanted to be alone for a bit. "Go finish breakfast Bruce." he called and waited for him to leave. …Although, as Bruce reached the door Tony called out to him, "Wait, Bruce?"

"Yeah?"

" …Do you think we'll ever see him again?"

Bruce turned back to him with a small smile. "I'm sure that's not the last we'll ever see of that puny god."

Tony gave him a half smile in return, and once he heard the familiar hiss of his lab door closing, he flipped over the paper he was working on.

His new blueprints for Loki's helmet needed to be perfect.

**- THE AVENGERS WILL BE RETURNING IN A WINTER WITH LOKI - **

**So, I just wanted to thank every single one of you who have reviewed, favourited, and alerted this story! It has been a blast to write, and I'm glad you guys have stuck with me through the change of season. xD If any of you are interested in the sequel please AUTHOR alert me, so you can get the next update! Also, PM me for a suggestion if you've got any good ideas for the group to get up to. **

**~one last request. If we could just end this story with a bang, and have everyone who's stuck with me throughout this or new readers _review_, and tell me what you think! I write for you guys, and any sort of criticism, or comment is welcome! Please, review, it would be the best Christmas present for me from you guys. :) Seeing any new reviews from you guys just makes my day!**

**You guys are literally the best, and I hope all of you have a great winter along with the guys! **

**Thanks always, :) **


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